Both industrial hemp flowers and CBD oils sold online by businessman Tuomas Ahonen fall into a legal gray area.
Tuomas Ahonen sells CBD oils through its online store and is not the only retailer offering these products in Finland. Ahonen photographed in May 2019. Image: Laura Hyyti / Yle
A CBD hemp and oil business run by a Finnish businessman is being investigated by Finnish customs authorities for aggravated drug offenses.
Now enterprising Tuomas Ahonen told Yle that he is the prime suspect in the ongoing investigation.
Ahonen has operated two companies selling hemp products, with one company focusing on the sale of industrial hemp flowers, while the other sold CBD (cannabidiol) oil and powder made from hemp. Sales were conducted online, with Ahonen importing hemp from overseas and selling it to customers in Finland.
Industrial hemp refers to legal and non-intoxicating varieties of hemp grown primarily for seed and fiber production, while CBD oil contains cannabidiol, which has no intoxicating effects but has relaxing and medicinal properties.
According to the district court in southwestern Finland, Ahonen was detained for two weeks in May on suspicion of aggravated drug offenses. Yle has not been able to independently verify that the investigation is directly related to Ahonen’s online store sales.
Ahonen tells Yle that he suspects, among other things, of importing illegal drugs.
He says customs told him that hemp products that contain even the lowest amount of THC (the psychoactive component of cannabis) are considered illegal drugs.
Customs has conducted several preliminary investigations into cannabis sales, according to the Customs Enforcement Director, Hannu Sinkkonen.
Sinkkonen would not like to comment on how many preliminary investigations are underway or how many people are suspected of rape. He confirmed that confiscations have been made in connection with the investigations.
Sinkkonen added that the suspects are being held in connection with the cases.
Ahonen is by no means the only CBD retailer in Finland. For example, the Ruohonjuuri health food store and the Kärkkäinen department store chain sell CBD oil, but their operations have not elicited a response from authorities, at least for now.
A legal gray area
The state of industrial hemp has been a topic of debate in the European Union in recent years, as the popularity of CBD oils and other hemp products has grown.
The EU currently classifies edible CBD oils as “novel foods” that require a special permit to sell. So far, the EU has not issued any permits for CBD oils, but there are several pending applications.
For this reason, traders sell CBD oils as skin care products. In practice, they can also be eaten.
Industrial hemp containing up to 0.2 percent tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, the intoxicating ingredient in cannabis, can be legally grown in the EU. The maximum allowed limit rises to 0.3%.
In most EU countries, dried industrial hemp flowers can be found for sale, but their legal status is in a gray area.
In Belgium, for example, the product is classified as a substitute for tobacco. Industrial hemp flowers have been sold for years in neighboring Finland, Estonia and Sweden.
According to Ahonen, the flowers he sold were mainly from large legal suppliers in Spain and Austria.
“These products do not come from obscure sources. We have all the necessary documentation from the local authorities and other information we need to have about the production,” says Ahonen.
Ahonen says he is unsure why the Finnish customs suspect him of criminal activity. He says the agency and police confiscated hemp products from him and his former business partner for inspection over the past year, but in the past they had always returned the merchandise.
“We’re confident it can’t be terribly illegal to do that,” Ahonen says.
The situation for customers is not clear
Ahonen says that in just under a year, several thousand customers had managed to order hemp flowers from their companies. A small number of them placed repeated orders.
Customs confiscated his phone and computer, which contained a mailing list of his clients, according to Ahonen.
Customs officials will not comment on whether a customer record of the online store is maintained or whether customers may be criminally liable for purchases. More information will be available once the preliminary investigation is completed, Sinkkonen says
Ahonen, meanwhile, insists he intends to set a precedent in any upcoming lawsuits over his hemp sales.
“First, I will go through the Finnish courts. If necessary, after that, we will continue to the EU courts.”
