Interviewed on RTL, the Minister of Health announced that she wanted to clarify the legal situation of coffee shops, these shops that sell products derived from cannabis at very low concentration (cannabidiol). For now, the legislation remains unclear.
Coffee shops are flourishing across France. In these establishments, we do not sell pure cannabis but cannabidiol, one of the molecules in marijuana. The Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn announced that she wanted to clarify the law on these products during an interview on RTL Sunday, June 17.
Fuzzy legislation
Agnès Buzyn thinks that these establishments will be closed in a few months. They take advantage of a legal vagueness on the consumption of cannabidiol (CBD). In France, this cannabinoid present in cannabis (but devoid of the psychoactive effects of THC) is not prohibited as long as the THC level does not exceed 0.2%.
Currently, only one cannabinoid drug has a marketing authorization in France: Sativex, recommended against spasticity and multiple sclerosis. Dronabinol and cannabidiol, used in the event of neuropathic pain refractory to conventional treatments or epilepsy, are accessible but only with a nominative temporary authorization.
Confusion between cannabis and cannabidiol
The Directorate General of Health (DGS) insists on the fact that “no therapeutic virtue can be claimed in particular by manufacturers, sellers of products containing CBD”. In particular so as not to maintain a confusion between cannabis and CBD, and thus to promote cannabis.
For the minister, the law “does not speak of products in cigarettes but of the plant. However these stores divert the law by saying that their cigarettes contain less than 0.2% of THC.” In these stores, cannabidiol is sold in the form of crystals, syrup, oil, balm or even liquid to chat. The minister acknowledged the vagueness of the current law and affirmed that the legislation would be reviewed.
According to the JDD, an investigation was opened on June 11 by the Paris prosecutor’s office against a Parisian shop that sells cannabidiol-based products in order to verify that it complies with the legislation.
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