Cannabis and cannabinoids in France

Global business and regulatory news covering the cannabis industry

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10th June 2024: France: President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the National Assembly and called for snap parliamentary elections on 30th June and 7th July after Marine Le Pen’s National Rally achieved a significant victory in the European Parliament vote. Macron, who currently lacks a majority in the parliament, aims to achieve a clear legislative mandate but risks another victory for the far-right party, potentially leading to Marie Le Pen or Jordan Bardella (the party’s leader) as prime minister. It’s too soon to tell how this will affect the sectors because the EU election results do not precisely represent the population’s preferences, given that the French voter turnout was only 51%.
5th June 2024: France: The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) published a decision to classify new cannabinoids on the list of narcotics. As of 3rd June, the following cannabinoids are listed as narcotics: H2-CBD, H4-CBD, any cannabinoids derived from benzo[c]chromene (excluding cannabinol (CBN) and CBD), and eight other synthetic cannabinoids.
8th May 2024: France: The government has notified the EU Commission's TRIS database of a decision by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) to classify several cannabinoids as narcotics, including H2-CBD and H4-CBD.
18th April 2024: France: Senator Thomas Dossus from the Ecologist group introduced a bill that aims to allow two-year territorial experiments to legalise the recreational use of cannabis based on the German model. The proposal would permit adults to possess up to 25 g of cannabis in public spaces and 50 g in private spaces. Additionally, the bill would allow for home cultivation of up to three plants per person and establish cannabis cultivation associations.
28th March 2024: France: The Ministry of Health has published a decree establishing the specifications for cannabis-based medicines used during the experiment until the first batches of medical cannabis authorised by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) arrive on the market.
22nd February 2024: France: The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) has issued a press release concerning updates on the medical cannabis experiment and the establishment of a new framework for cannabis-based medicines. The agency reports that data collected during the initial two years of the experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of medical cannabis across all study indications, with sustained efficacy observed in certain patients over several months. Additionally, the ANSM highlights the establishment of a secure and operational prescription and delivery system. The agency confirms that patients enrolled in the experiment before 26th March 2024 will be able to continue their medical cannabis treatment.
However, the ANSM also announces the forthcoming cessation of cannabis flowers for inhalation. Therefore, prescribing doctors are advised to gradually discontinue flower-based treatments for their patients and refrain from initiating new treatments in this form. This may indicate that flowers will not be included in the framework of cannabis-based medicines. Furthermore, the ANSM stipulates that cannabis-based medicines must be accessible to patients in 2025 via medical prescription, provided the patients meet the qualifying medical conditions outlined within the experiment’s framework.
7th December 2023: France: The National Assembly has definitively approved the 2024 Social Security Financing Bill, which establishes a temporary ad hoc status for cannabis-based medicines. These medicines are defined as any medication containing an active substance derived from Cannabis sativa L., including its extracts. They will be subject to temporary authorisation from the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM), initially limited to a five-year period, which can then be renewed for additional five-year periods. The bill also extends the medical cannabis experiment for current participants until December 2024. Access to cannabis for medical use will continue to be limited to a last-resort treatment and can only be prescribed in hospitals. Although prices for each product are yet to be determined, authorities will consider prices across European countries with comparable market sizes. The criteria for the prescription of medical cannabis will subsequently be established by ministerial decree following an upcoming proposal from the ANSM. However, flowers and other inhaled forms of cannabis products will be excluded from these provisions.
7th November 2023: France: The National Assembly has passed the first reading of the 2024 Social Security Financing Bill without amending the government’s proposal, which aims to establish a temporary ad hoc status for cannabis-based medicines. The Senate will discuss the bill in the coming days.
23rd October 2023: France: The government has submitted an amendment to the 2024 Social Security Financing Bill which aims to establish a temporary ad hoc status for cannabis-based medicines. These medicines are defined as any medication containing an active substance derived from Cannabis sativa L, including its extracts. They would be subject to temporary authorisation, initially limited to a five-year period, which could be renewed for additional five-year periods. These authorisations would be issued by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM). The amendment also extends the medical cannabis experiment for current participants until December 2024. The amendment does not specifically define cannabis-based medicines or outline the qualifying conditions for obtaining them, which will likely be determined by a separate decree.
16th October 2023: France: The minister of health, Aurélien Rousseau, has announced an extension of the medical cannabis experiment programme, which was due to end in March 2024. However, he did not appear to commit to a nationwide rollout of medical cannabis across France this year. Several amendments from various political parties – seeking to either extend the experiment or establish a general framework for medical cannabis – have been submitted as part of the 2024 Social Security Financing Bill. The government has so far not officially introduced an amendment to extend the experiment.
28th September 2023: France: The government has presented to the parliament the 2024 Social Security Financing Bill, which does not introduce a comprehensive regulatory framework for medical cannabis. The medical cannabis experiment is set to end in March 2024, but it is likely that deputies will attempt to extend it for another year during the bill's discussion.
15th June 2023: EU: The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published France’s intention to submit CBD to the registry of harmonised classification and labelling (CLH) due to its potential to cause reproductive toxicity. This represents France’s view on the matter, and anyone with relevant information on the hazardous properties of CBD is encouraged to provide input. The process starts with the notification of the intention and ends with the adoption of the opinion of the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC). If completed, CBD would eventually be classified as a carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) substance, and therefore banned from use in cosmetic products in Europe.

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