On Dec. 2, 2020, the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs removed hemp from its drug list as not all substances are necessarily harmful. While tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in hemp causes hallucination, cannabidiol (CBD) in hemp does not; CBD is rather classified as a health functional food and is used to treat epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease in some countries.
Korea also reorganized regulations on hemp. The original law (Narcotics Control Act) prohibited the production, sale, and smoking of hemp. But in Nov. 2018, revisions on the Narcotics Control Act passed the National Assembly plenary session. Prescription of medicines containing hemp has been legalized since March 2019.
However, despite the legalization of medical hemp, medicines containing hemp can only be imported and sold at the Korea Orphan & Essential Drug Center under strict regulations, making it difficult to buy them freely. In addition, hemp medicines are still too expensive since they are not covered by medical insurance. For example, Epidiolex, an epilepsy treatment drug, is currently sold for 1.64 million KRW per 100mL. Therefore, to improve access to medical hemp, industrialization of medical hemp and improvement of the sales system are needed in Korea.
Recently, an earnest approach to drug development using medical hemp began in Korea. On June 13, 2021, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) along with Gangneung Institute of Natural Products (NPI) announced its plan to develop a treatment for childhood epilepsy through medical hemp. NPI also introduced its own medical hemp processing technology and a container model of the plant production system. In Korea, hemp medicines are dependent on imports. Industrialization starting with the research of NPI will help Korea become independent in the medicinal hemp industry and reduce the price of medicines based on hemp.
The global market of hemp is estimated to be worth approximately 200 trillion KRW in 2025, and the medical hemp market is estimated to grow by 22.1% annually to 51 trillion KRW by 2024. The distribution of medical hemp will solve many problems in the medical community. But at the same time, to prevent misuse and illegal sales, the industrialization of medical hemp should proceed carefully through deep discussions between the government, laboratories, and companies.