A European authority has issued an official warning over hemp-derived intoxicants, signaling a new chapter in the EU’s drug policy and setting off alarm bells for the industrial hemp sector.
In the 30th annual Drug Report 2025: Trends and Development, the European Drugs Agency (EUDA) said the proliferation of semi-synthetic cannabinoids made from CBD is creating public health risks.
As it does so, it is muddying the waters for legitimate hemp-based products in the process – jeopardizing public and political support for wellness CBD if not the broader hemp industry, including fiber and grain.
The EUDA’s warning—explicitly identifying substances such as HHC, THC-P, HHC-O, and other THC compounds—is the first official recognition that intoxicating products derived from legal hemp are a health concern across Europe.
‘Sisyphean challenge’
Industrial hemp stakeholders in Europe have long fought to distance their sector from the drug policy frameworks surrounding marijuana, and great progress has been made – particularly with CBD, which the European Union has confirmed is legal. But with the rise of intoxicating products derived from surplus CBD—enabled by legal loopholes and weak enforcement—this separation could be under threat.
“The current situation is reminiscent of the Sisyphean challenge,” said Alexis Goosdeel, EUDA executive director, referencing the mythological character condemned to roll a stone uphill only for it to tumble down again. “Every time we push forward in creating distinction and regulation, the market shifts and new risks emerge.”
The EUDA’s report notes that by the end of 2024, 24 semi-synthetic cannabinoids had been identified across Europe. HHC, the most prominent among them, was found in 27 countries and had been placed under control in at least 22 EU Member States. Yet many newer substances—chemically similar but legally distinct—remain on the market.
“Producers are exploiting regulatory gaps,” the report said, with semi-synthetics offering “legal” highs while posing unknown risks, including acute toxicity, poisoning, and hospitalizations.
Precursors and policy
Perhaps the most alarming statement came from Goosdeel himself, who publicly questioned whether CBD should be considered a precursor—a legally regulated input in the manufacture of controlled substances. This idea, if adopted into EU regulatory frameworks, could severely limit the cultivation, processing, and commercialization of CBD products, regardless of their intended use.
“Given that semi-synthetic cannabinoids are created from CBD, perhaps one day CBD should be considered a precursor,” Goosdeel said at the report’s launch in Lisbon earlier this month. This view underscores a growing concern: that legitimate hemp production systems are unintentionally feeding illicit or semi-legal drug markets.
The report’s authors were clear that the legal CBD supply chain—especially its surplus—has created an industrial feedstock for the creation of unregulated psychoactive compounds. That development, they argue, calls for immediate regulatory attention, scientific risk assessments, and more robust monitoring.
A drug-like drift
The EUDA’s conclusions present a sober warning not just for CBD processors but for the entire hemp sector. The agency characterized the repurposing of CBD into intoxicants as a “strategic misuse” of legal hemp channels, with public health consequences and reputational damage for hemp as a whole.
Specifically, the report lists several knock-on effects:
- Adulteration of cannabis products with synthetic cannabinoids sold as “CBD”
- Widespread hospitalizations due to mislabeling and potency miscalculations
- Confusion among consumers, regulators, and health professionals about the true nature of hemp-derived products
The report’s authors emphasize that there is insufficient data on long-term health effects of such compounds, and point out that cases of acute toxicity and hospital emergencies are rising, especially in connection to edibles and vapes mislabeled as CBD.
Image under pressure
For the hemp industry, the stakes are clear. The resurgence of a “hemp-equals-drugs” narrative—long a barrier to market development, particularly in fiber and grain—now threatens to re-emerge, amplified by misleading marketing.
The problem with hemp intoxicants originated in the United States, where a loophole in the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill allowed hemp-derived Delta-8 THC and other synthetic intoxicants to flourish under minimal regulation. That trend, while lucrative for some, has sparked legal confusion, market fragmentation, and political backlash—challenges European stakeholders now appear to be facing.
What began as a technical loophole has morphed into a public health and industry-wide legitimacy crisis.
Calls for reform
While EUDA stopped short of advocating for EU-wide bans, the agency clearly sees a need for a more unified response. “Urgent risk assessment, regulation, and monitoring are needed,” the report concludes, echoing calls for a coordinated approach among EU Member States.
The agency’s analysts stress that policy should be data-driven and science-based, but warn that Europe must also prepare for fast-evolving chemical markets and unexpected threats to public health. In particular, they urge that:
- CBD’s legal status be reconsidered in light of its role as a chemical precursor
- Industry stakeholders increase transparency and self-regulation
- Governments close existing loopholes without harming legitimate hemp producers
A warning
Goosdeel’s remarks acknowledged that hemp has many valuable uses, and cautioned against blanket measures that would “punish the good actors.” However, he insisted that ignoring the intoxicant problem now risks undermining the credibility of the hemp sector across Europe.
The European Drugs Agency, created in 2024, is the successor body to the now defunct European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, from which it inherited three decades of collecting and presenting data on the consumption and markets of illicit and addictive substances in Europe.
As the new agency builds its mandate, this year’s report places hemp at the center of a broader debate about substance control, industrial policy, and public health.
For the hemp sector, it’s a reminder: failing to police its own borders—especially between industrial and intoxicating uses—could drag the entire industry back into the shadow of drug policy.