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View all Cannabis and cannabinoids in France
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Daily news alerts
Daily regulatory updates of legal changes in the cannabis sector, including monthly compilations
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.
15th May 2023
- France: Health minister François Braun has said that hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) will be banned in the coming weeks. "It is not classified as narcotic and I honestly think it will be soon," concluded the minister, implying that an opinion of the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) will soon be issued.
28th April 2023
- France: Deputy Victor Habert-Dassault, from the Republicans, presented a parliamentary question to the minister of health asking whether the government is considering banning hexahydrocannabinol (HHC)-containing products.
4th April 2023
France: The National Drug Safety Agency (ANSM) is warning of a possible shortage of CBD-only medicines in its medical cannabis pilot programme and suggests alternatives, such as Epidyolex and preparations that contain THC, for patients already in the programme. The anticipated shortage follows the withdrawal from the programme of Little Green Pharma, which provides approximately 60% of the products prescribed, press reports.
3rd February 2023
- France: The National Drug Safety Agency (ANSM) has updated the list of community pharmacies and healthcare establishments authorised to order and dispense medical cannabis.
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