Is CBD Legal?
Broadly yes, but with more nuance than the adverts suggest. Two conditions sit behind a legal CBD product, and one widely-quoted figure that almost everyone misreads.
CBD itself isn't a controlled drug, so CBD products are legal to sell and buy in the UK. Two conditions sit behind that, and they're worth understanding because they explain why the market is such a mixed bag.
It must be genuinely low in controlled cannabinoids
A legal CBD product has to contain only trace amounts of THC and other controlled cannabinoids. You'll often see "less than 0.2% THC" quoted, but that figure actually refers to the THC allowed in the hemp crop a licensed farmer can grow, not the finished product on the shelf. The rule for the product you buy is about keeping controlled cannabinoids to a trace. It's a common and understandable mix-up, and worth knowing so a "0.2%" label doesn't lull you into thinking it means more than it does.
CBD food and drink is a "novel food"
Ingestible CBD (oils, gummies, drinks, not vapes or cosmetics) is regulated as a novel food, which means it legally needs safety authorisation. The Food Standards Agency runs a public list of products linked to credible safety applications that are permitted to stay on sale while the assessment continues. Anything not on that list isn't supposed to be there. It's a slow, still-settling process, which is part of why the market is such a mixed bag, and a good reason to prefer products on the FSA's list (more on choosing well in Buying it safely).