March 1 may not go down in history as a revolutionary date in France—like, say, the July standbys such as Bastille or Independence Day—but it will still stand as a significant one in the world of cannabis.
The French government has finally seen the light and announced that medical cannabis is here to stay. They have, as a result, now agreed to a decree authorizing the medical cultivation, manufacture, and distribution of medical cannabis in the country as of today.
The move has been a long time coming, particularly given the forward motion of another large economy, Germany, which kicked off this process, albeit messily, in the spring of 2017. Nevertheless, several promises at a national level later, German confirmation of a recreational market in the offing (along with several other EU countries implementing one—see Malta and Luxembourg), not to mention COVID and a national lawsuit that ended up changing EU policy on CBD, the French have arrived.
Medical cannabis will, in the future, be cultivated in France, along with the establishment of a medical supply chain.
Now, as the Germans have already found out, the real fun begins.
Quelle Fromage!
There are likely to be all sorts of contretemps over interpretation by an industry tired of endless loopholes. There are also going to be interesting challenges to a law clearly written to favor the pharmaceutical industry if not create a medically certified (EU-GMP) supply chain.
Here is the first twist. According to Article 2, the production, including cultivation, manufacture, transport, import, export, possession, offering, acquisition, and use of cannabis in France, are still prohibited unless a medical authorization has been specifically issued by the relevant authorities—in this case, the National Agency