Korea Joong Ang Daily
If a product made from the cannabis stem or roots carries the same substances contained in its leaves, then the product is illegal, the Supreme Court of Korea says.
The court said on Monday that it overturned and remanded a lower court’s decision on May 29. The ruling was regarding a cosmetics ingredient importer that filed a lawsuit after it was denied permission to import cannabidiol (CBD), a substance derived from cannabis, in 2020. Authorities had deemed the substance a narcotic.
The plaintiff argued that the substance in question was not cannabis as defined under the Narcotics Control Act.
Cannabis includes cannabis plants and their resin, all products manufactured using these as raw materials, chemically synthesized substances with the same composition as cannabis designated by presidential decree or any mixture or preparation containing the substances, according to Article 2, Clause 4 of the Narcotics Control Act.
However, the law also includes an exception for seeds, roots and the mature stems of cannabis and products made from them.
This exception exists because the main hallucinogenic compounds are concentrated in the unmodified female flowers of the plant, while the excepted parts are typically used for fiber or edible seeds.
Citing this, the plaintiff claimed the substance could be considered as extracted from a part of the cannabis plant that is excepted from the law, and should not be classified as illegal.
Both the district and appellate courts accepted this argument.
“Tetrahydrocannabinol [THC], the main hallucinogenic compound, was not detected in the imported substance, and it could not be definitively concluded that the exception clause did not apply,” the lower courts said, thus deeming the import ban unlawful.
However, the Supreme Court found otherwise, saying the classification should be based on the substance itself.
The court noted that substances derived from cannabis are generally known as cannabinoids, and the Enforcement Decree of the Narcotics Control Act specifies that synthetic compounds chemically identical to cannabis components — including cannabinol (CBN), THC and CBD, along with their salts and isomers — must be regulated.
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