A coalition of patient organisations across Europe has launched an appeal and public petition challenging a move to treat cannabidiol (CBD) as a drug precursor.
The appeal, titled Care Before Discrimination is a Human Right, was launched after the Czech government said it was considering placing restrictions on the non-psychoactive cannabinoid, including placing it on a European precursor list and restricting how it can be processed under Czech law.
The group has raised concerns over the lack of transparency and patient consultation before any restrictions are introduced.
CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid that is available in most countries across the world, with a number of reported health benefits.
The move by the Czech government follows an internal notice from the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) on 24 February 2026, which revealed that since China designated CBD as a drug precursor in September 2024, it has voluntarily logged plans to export nearly 450 tonnes of CBD to 25 countries – including 15 in Europe – through the INCB’s Pre-Export Notification Online Light (PEN Online Light) system.
The notice, however, acknowledges significant gaps in the case for restriction. “While some countries have raised concerns with INCB about the use of CBD as a precursor in the manufacture of THC and semi-synthetic cannabinoids (such as HHC, THCP, HHC-O), evidence of use of CBD as the actual starting material is limited,” states the document seen by leafie.
The coalition includes patient organisations from across Europe and beyond: Aube (Canada), Centrum Paraple (Czech Republic), Dosemociones (Spain), Fuck Cancer (Czech Republic), HARP – Human Application Research Program (Czech Republic), KOPAC (Czech Republic), Mothers for Cannabis (Portugal), PatientsCann (United Kingdom) and Verein Medcan (Switzerland), with more expected to join.
The group argues that the justification for regulation is fundamentally flawed. Dangerous synthetic cannabinoids – often sold as “Spice” – are manufactured from industrial chemicals, not CBD. The only semi-synthetic cannabinoid with a clear link to CBD was hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), which was placed under strict international control in December 2025 when it was added to Schedule II of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
CBD itself is not scheduled under international drug-control conventions. It is used in a number of therapeutic products, cosmetic goods and food supplements, and a purified CBD medicine is authorised in the EU to treat severe forms of epilepsy.
The coalition stresses it is not campaigning against regulation, but warns that an administrative ban would push vulnerable patients into unregulated markets.
“Patients aren’t asking for a loophole. We’re asking not to be pushed into the shadows,” said Pavel Kubů from KOPAC. “If the Government believes CBD should be restricted, show the evidence, listen to the patients it affects, and explain why the rules we already have aren’t enough. Care before discrimination means deciding in daylight.”
The coalition says it supports quality standards, contaminant testing, honest labelling, age limits and enforcement against dangerous synthetic products. However, it objects to what it describes as “a quiet administrative shortcut resting on evidence no one has published”, arguing that restricting legal CBD products could create more harm than good.
“Push tested CBD out of legal shops, and the demand doesn’t disappear; it moves to an unregulated market where contamination with heavy metals, pesticides and solvents is far harder to catch.”
Sign the petition here: https://www.openpetition.eu/petition/online/care-before-discrimination-is-a-human-right
