UN Places HHC in the same regulations as cannabis and methamphetamine. – Medcan24

The 68th session United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted last week almost unanimously that hexahydrocannabinol be placed under Schedule II to the 1971 Convention.

The most significant effort has been made to curb the rapid spread HHC.

HHC, which is similar to delta-9 THC and a semisynthetic derivative of cannabinoids, began appearing on European drug markets by 2022. The lack of a cohesive regulatory framework and the relative ease in production have led to its rapid spread.

Many governments are celebrating the decision, but others have already reacted. They argue that, similar to the cannabis prohibition, this will only push the production onto the black market, and the products available to be more hazardous with less supervision.

CND decision 

On March 13, following ‘five days of intensive discussions on global drug policy’, the CND voted to approve the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and place six new substances under international control.

HHC, the only psychotropic substance among the six that was placed on Schedule II in the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances means the drug now falls under the same group as methamphetamine and cannabis.

This class is only for substances with a medium risk of addiction and abuse but still some medical potential.

HHC will be banned from all UN member countries, who are obliged to implement a strict regulatory regime on its production and distribution.

The government must license and regulate HHC-related activities, including import, export, production and trade. Researchers and doctors with a license can legally handle HHC for research, but law enforcement is now required to criminalise any unauthorised production or possession.

The United States was the only country that did not vote in favor of this new classification. Given the ongoing issues the US is having with the proliferation of ‘intoxicating hemp substances’ and the lack of federal regulation, this was a surprising omission.

In a brief statement, US representatives said that they were ‘unable to vote on the proposals’ to place HHC into schedule II, but that it was ‘already controlled in the United States’ at levels that will allow it to meet its international obligations.

It is a questionable claim, as HHC does not appear in the Controlled Substances Act. Although individual states have taken steps to prohibit HHC and synthetic cannabinoids at the federal level, its legality is still open for interpretation.

HHC spreads throughout the world

The year 2023 will begin on January 1. MEDCAN24 first reported that the EUDA (then called the EMCDDA) had hosted its first ‘technical expert meeting’ on HHC, warning member states that it represented ‘the first major new change in the market for “legal” replacements to cannabis since Spice emerged in Europe just over 15 years ago’

EUDA stated that it has been monitoring the substance through the EU Early Warning System since October 20, 2022 after the first identification in May of the same year. In December, it was found in 70 percent of the member states.

The latest European Web Survey on Drugs 2024 was updated on the 25th of February 2025. According to the survey, 14% out of 61,732 people surveyed said that they have used synthetic cannabinoids in the past year.

The CND voted to ban HHC following a recommendation from the WHO, which stated that it ‘poses a risk to public health and has no recognised therapeutic use’, though this was in part due to the lack of research on the substance. 

It noted that HHC has been shown to produce similar behavioural effects to delta-9-THC in animals, and in humans ‘sleepiness, euphoria, anxiety, agitation, psychosis, tremors and disorientation were reported, in addition to respiratory, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal effects’.

Furthermore, ‘no studies of the dependence potential of HHC in animals or humans have been reported’, but its effects on the CB1 receptors suggest that it would produce a similar dependence to delta-9-THC.

No studies on abuse have also been conducted, although it’s believed to be abused because of its CB1-agonist properties.

There is enough evidence to show that hexahydrocannabinol has been used in a manner which is harmful for public health. This is a problem of international concern.

Reactions of international communities to the HHC ban

The Czech Republic is one of the few countries that has not been affected by the worldwide backlash towards HHC or other synthetic cannabinoids. It passed its groundbreaking Psychomodulatory Substances Law earlier this year. 

Under this new act, designed largely to attempt to regulate these substances, HHC has been classed as ‘under review’, seeing it studied for up to two years to properly evaluate its safety.

The bill, described as ‘revolutionary’ by its proponents, aimed to ‘regulate a broad range of substances that do not pose a serious risk to public health or that do not risk serious social impacts on individuals or society’, pushing against the almost unanimous international position of prohibition.

The Czech Rational Addiction Policy Think Tank, founded in 2017 by former National Drug Coordinator Jindřich Vobořil, has pushed back on the CND’s move.

In a statement, the think tank said that it believes this move is ‘not only procedurally flawed, but also factually unjustified and contrary to the modern approach to the regulation of psychoactive substances.’

It went on to criticise the assessment by the WHO, stating that to class a substance under schedule II information must be included on the ‘extent or likelihood of abuse of the substance, the severity of public health and social problems associated with the use, and the therapeutic use of the substance.’

It argues that the WHO’s report (based on a submission from October 2024) does not provide ‘sufficient information on the addictive and abusive potential of HHC, relies on isolated cases from several countries instead of scientific data, and completely ignores information on the therapeutic use of the substance.’

The decision could have legal consequences and damage the credibility of international drug controls.

Instead, it recommends the CND adopt its new regulatory system, which it argues ‘fills the vacuum’ created by member states having ‘no other means of regulation besides prohibition’.

In Ireland, there is a growing call to ban HHC completely. According to local news reports, addiction specialists and religious commentators have argued the government’s failure to ban HHC has ‘damaged’ children.

According to a publication, Dr Bobby Smyth is a child psychiatrist and an teen psychiatrist who told the reporter: “This has now been the most common drug-induced psychosis for about ten years in Ireland.”

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Bishop Michael Router, who leads the Irish hierarchy’s drugs initiative, urged the government to ban the sale of HHC vapes ‘as a matter of urgency’, similarly arguing that it is responsible for the psychological and physical harm of young people in the country.

Its wider implications

It is clear from the US example that the ban of these synthetic cannabinoids has a negative and unfair impact on the hemp industry.

HHC’s production method is at issue. Today, HHC is typically produced from low-THC hemp plants by chemically converting hemp-derived CBD into THC and then into HHC through hydrogenation​.

Hemp with low THC content is widely legalized and available in most parts of the world.

Hemp-derived CBD can be used to produce HHC (high-THC marijuana) without handling the cannabis plant directly. This allows for a chemical modification of its cannabinoids while leveraging hemp’s legality.

Some states in the US, such as California, Texas, Missouri, and others, have seen attempts at regulating these new compounds lead to excessive regulation, which impacts on the operations of industrial hemp production.

The hemp industry will be watching closely to see how the UN members states intend to enforce their new ban.