Iceland authorizes the cultivation of industrial hemp

Iceland's Minister of Health, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, has enacted an amendment to the regulations on intoxicating and addictive substances to allow the Icelandic Medicines Agency (IMA) to import seeds of industrial hemp.

The regulations specifies that seeds and plants must not contain more than 0.2% of THC, and authorizes the importation, handling, and transport of hemp seeds for industrial use pursuant to European Union Directives 2002/53 and 2002/57. Seed imports will be subject to review by the Icelandic Food Agency.

Icelandic drug regulations previously prohibited the importation and handling of any cannabis-related product, regardless of the concentration of THC.

This new legislation follows in case from a farm in eastern Iceland that was experimenting with the cultivation of industrial hemp.

The Gautavik Farm believed he was entitled to import the seeds and grow hemp after receiving confirmation from the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority. The IMA had also previously ruled that hemp seeds were not subject to Icelandic drug laws.

Last November, however, the police raided the farm at the request of the IMA. The farmers were not informed in advance of the police visit, nor did the IMA ask the farmers for additional information about the plants they were growing. The police collected samples and tested them. After discovering that the samples contained no measurable levels of THC, the police dropped the case last March.