Cannabis-munching cows to get change of diet

Farmers in Liechtenstein will no longer be allowed to feed cannabis to their livestock under new rules to be introduced in March in the tiny Alpine state.

Farmers in Liechtenstein will no longer be allowed to feed cannabis to their livestock under new rules to be introduced in March in the tiny Alpine state.

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Hemp -- of which the marijuana plant is a well-known variety -- contains small amounts of THC, the active substance in hashish, and traces of the drug have been filtering through to the milk of dairy cows fed with the plant.

The levels breach the maximum limit set by the new rules, which say that animal feed must be free of any component that could have an adverse effect on humans, the country's veterinary and food controls office said in a statement.

Hemp will also be banned from the diets of meat herds, although there is no clear evidence that THC can filter through into meat.

The rules intend to bring Liechtenstein, a tiny nation of 33,000 inhabitants, in line with food standards in neighbouring Switzerland, with which it forms a customs union.