France: Market and legal data analysis of the cannabis sector

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.
12th June 2023: France: The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) has made the decision to classify hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), hexahydrocannabiphorol (HHCP) and hexahydrocannabinol acetate (HHCO) as narcotics, starting from tomorrow. This decision was announced by the minister of health last month.
7th June 2023: France: Senator Gilbert-Luc Devinaz of the Socialist, Ecologist and Republican group has introduced a bill to regulate recreational cannabis and cannabis-derived products as a state monopoly. Under the proposal, the National Agency for the Control and Management of Cannabis would be responsible for issuing licences for production and distribution. The bill also seeks to impose excise duty on cannabis products and prohibit advertising. Several senators from the same group, led by Devinaz, released a collective statement in August 2022 through the newspaper Le Monde, calling for the legalisation of recreational cannabis.

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