From the end of July: Only tobacconists are allowed to sell smokable hemp
From the end of July, smokable hemp will only be sold in tobacconists. A ruling by the Administrative Court assigns the products to the tobacco monopoly, hemp shops are concerned.
The sale of legal, smokable hemp is set to start in tobacconists at the end of July. The first necessary approvals have been granted to tobacco wholesalers, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The background is a ruling by the Administrative Court, according to which the sale of cannabis flowers with a THC content of a maximum of 0.3 percent is subject to tobacco tax, if under the Tobacco Monopoly Act, and is therefore reserved for tobacconists.
In the future, the same legal requirements as for tobacco products will apply to the sale of smokable hemp: warning notices must be placed on the packaging, online sales are prohibited, and youth protection regulations must be observed, the ministry states in a release.
The ruling by the Administrative Court caused great uncertainty among hemp shops, which saw their existence threatened and questioned the interpretation of the decision. The newly founded Austrian Cannabis Association (ÖCB) presented an expert opinion by constitutional expert Heinz Mayer in April, which stated that legally tradable cannabis flowers are subject to tobacco tax, "but are clearly not an object of the Austrian tobacco monopoly." According to Mayer, an extension of the tobacco monopoly to cannabis would be unconstitutional, contrary to European law, and an impermissible interference with the freedom to conduct a business.
The Cannabis Association was therefore prepared to seek legal clarification if necessary. They were prepared for an administrative procedure, and the businesses would continue to sell the goods, the association stated in April. The wholesale approvals now granted to tobacconists "do not change our assessment," it was said in response to an APA inquiry on Wednesday. They are "still convinced that our members are acting legally - also in the future."
The Ministry of Finance emphasized in April that it intends to review the expert opinion of the constitutional expert, but this does not change the legal situation or the legal opinion of the financial administration - a position that the ministry reaffirmed to the APA today. According to their own statements, the association has not yet received "any substantive feedback from the Ministry of Finance" regarding the expert opinion.
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here .
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