France Unlikely to Legalize Medical Cannabis Until 2026

Will France succeed in legalizing medical cannabis? Although the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM) assured earlier this year that cannabis-based treatments would be available by 2025, the widespread legalization of medical cannabis in France is unlikely to occur before 2026.

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France Faces Legal Deadlines and European Commission Notification

To comply with the legal deadline — requiring authorizations for cannabis-based medicines by December 31, 2024 — France should have notified the European Commission (EC) about the integration of cannabis medicine production and distribution into the country’s legal framework by the first half of 2024.

According to our sources, everything was ready before the summer break. Despite the dissolution of the National Assembly in France, we were told the process remained on track. Decisions had even been made regarding the availability of secure vaporized cannabis flower cartridges for patients and export options for producers.

New Political Roadblocks in France

However, after the summer break in France, we learned that additional revisions were made to the already approved project, particularly by Mildeca (Interministerial Mission for Combating Drugs and Addictive Behaviors). The Directorate General of Health (DGS) explained that, “due to the management of current affairs,” the notification could not be sent.

Our sources also reveal that the main reason for the delay is fear — whether justified or not — that the project may not gain the approval of the future government in France, causing political gridlock.

This notification is a prerequisite for the generalization of medical cannabis in France. Once notified, the EC has three months to review it, with an additional three months if they wish to provide comments. After that, the texts must be incorporated into French law by decree or order. The ANSM would then need to collect and process the applications for cannabis-based medicines before they become accessible to the limited number of patients who will only be able to use oils and other non-flower formulations.

ANSM and Industrial Preparations Stalled by Political Decisions

During a meeting last Thursday between ANSM and industry representatives in France, the agency explained that it had advanced as far as possible within its scope and is now awaiting political decisions outside its jurisdiction.

The DGS made it clear that the project will have to wait for a new government in France that is willing to address the issue, meaning the widespread legalization of medical cannabis will not occur by January 1, 2025, as initially announced. Given the necessary time for each step in the process, our calculations indicate that the legalization will be pushed to the next Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS), with actual implementation delayed until 2026.

Uncertainty Looming for France in 2025

What happens next? Uncertainty reigns for 2025 in France. The transitional period between the experimental phase and widespread legalization could be extended into 2025, still without cannabis flowers and with major questions about both funding and the inclusion of new patients.

Patients participating in the experimental phase, who were already disappointed by the exclusion of cannabis flowers from the legalization, told us their only options will be to resort to either self-cultivation or the black market, risking exposure to flowers contaminated with bacteria harmful to their immune systems, which are weakened by their medical conditions.

Impact on Industry and Patient Access in France

Industries prepared for 2025—two companies in France—will also have to wait and sustain financial losses throughout the year, unable to produce oils outside of research and development or export their flower production, for example, to Germany. The only activity permitted to them is the destruction of their production, despite the fact that French patients could benefit from it—a nonsensical situation noted by all involved parties.

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(Featured image by Chris Karidis via Unsplash)

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