Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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238. To ask the Minister for Health the progress on the regulation of hemp stores in Ireland (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10628/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 to 2016, and the various Regulations and Orders made thereunder, give effect in Ireland to the international conventions on narcotic and psychotropic substances, including the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. These include:

- S.I. number 173 of 2017 - Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2017

- S.I. number 174 of 2017 - Misuse of Drugs (Designation) Order 2017

Cannabis and its derivatives are controlled by virtue of this framework. Under the Misuse of Drugs Acts, cannabis means any part of the plant of the genus cannabis but excludes the following after separation from the rest of the plant

- the mature stalk and fibre produced from it

- the seeds

Any other part of the plant not explicitly excluded under the Act is cannabis for the purposes of the Act.