How We Verify and Date Legal Information

Not legal advice

This library is for education. It is not legal advice and does not tell anyone what they may buy, sell, carry or use. Cannabis laws change often, differ between countries, states and cities, and are sometimes unclear. If a decision depends on the law, check the official source for your place and, where it matters, ask a qualified lawyer.

How we write legal statements

Every legal statement on a cannabis page follows five rules:

1. It names the place (country, state or agency).
2. It names the product or compound (for example "FDA-approved drug products containing marijuana," not "cannabis").
3. It names the activity (selling, possessing, importing, adding to food).
4. It gives the date we read the source, written as "read 2026-10-22," and the source itself.
5. It stays inside what the source says. If we did not read a country's law or regulator page, we write "not verified" instead of guessing.

We never say a compound is legal or illegal "everywhere." We also do not treat "hemp" labeling, online sale or a shipping offer as proof of legality. Different laws can apply to the same product at once, for example drug-control law, food and drug law, state law and border rules.

What we prefer to read

We prefer a regulator's or government's own page (such as the FDA, the EMA, the Federal Register, Health Canada, TSA or CBP), then the Congressional Research Service and intergovernmental bodies such as UNODC, then neutral legislative trackers such as the National Conference of State Legislatures. Law-firm blogs and trade press are not used as sources. Some pages we could not read directly; where that matters we say so on the page.

Snapshot: what we read on 2026-10-22

• Federal rescheduling (United States). A Justice Department final rule published April 28, 2026 and effective that day places FDA-approved drug products containing marijuana, and marijuana subject to a state-issued medical license, in Schedule III. [1] The rule states that other forms of marijuana remain in Schedule I, that synthetic THC remains in Schedule I, and that hemp is not affected. [1] We did not read court challenges or follow-up actions. Detail: medical vs adult-use cannabis law.
• Hemp definition (United States). A narrower definition using total THC is scheduled for November 12, 2026, and CRS reported on August 17, 2026 that Congress was considering delaying it. [2] Detail: hemp legal definitions.
• State counts. NCSL's counts of medical and adult-use states are dated June 26, 2025. [3] They are older than the rest of this snapshot.
• International. UNODC reports that HHC entered international control under the 1971 Convention on 6 December 2025. [4]

How dates work on our pages

Each source citation carries the date we read it, and each page records the date its content was last updated. A "last updated" date means we re-read the sources, not that nothing has changed since. When a page says a rule is "scheduled" or "pending," confirm the outcome before relying on it.

Where to see the whole legal group

• Cannabis and CBD laws by country
• Consumer CBD product rules
• Import, export and travel questions