What's new for cannabis in France in 2018?

As we had announced: France did not legalize cannabis until 2017. Nostradamus might be proud of us. And even if 2018 won’t see the legalization of cannabis in France either, that doesn’t mean nothing will happen. A look back at this year and predictions for next year.

2017: A Year of Continuity

All in all, 2017 was a fairly normal year for cannabis in France: Marseille Opinion Piece on Legalization, campaign promises, EELV Introduces a Bill to Legalize Cannabis, cannabusiness hunt...

While all of our European neighbors now make it easier to access at least one form of cannabis, France is proudly sticking to its guns and is not relaxing the rules—neither for recreational users, even though we are Europe’s leading consumers, nor for people with medical conditions. The Sativex is still not available, and a patient, even if he or she has a prescription for cannabis, is not legally allowed to carry any on his person.

It is worth noting, however, two developments: the status of CBD e-liquids, which has become «clearer» Following a scandalous front-page story in *Le Parisien*, and the prospect of criminalization.

What about 2018?

2018 should therefore see the arrival of the contraventionnalisation, that is, the imposition of fines for violations of drug laws rather than prison sentences (edited May 11, 2018: in fact, the proposed cannabis fines are in addition to the prison sentences that may already be imposed), which is not quite decriminalization. A parliamentary commission has been examining the issue to determine which scenarios would be most appropriate and is expected to submit its report shortly.

Several uncertainties remain, however: whether a fine will be imposed for the first offense (followed by criminal charges) or for all offenses; the determination of a quantity deemed for personal use and what that quantity will be (3g, 5g, 20g?); and whether there will be an exemption for medical cannabis… Depending on the choices that are made, the contraventionnalisation may be seen as a step forward or a step backward for society.

Furthermore, while anyone can now consume CBD in the form of derivative products, the laws governing the use of hemp in France is so restrictive that it will benefit distributors, retailers, and foreign suppliers. Our farmers, on the other hand, will have to continue destroying their hemp flowers and face significant difficulties extracting CBD from their plants. In the meantime, the Swiss flowers have a wide-open road ahead of them. The need for regulation will soon become apparent, which could either open up new possibilities or close them off.

As for the demands, the 2018 World Cannabis March is expected to be even better than this year's.

If the Macron administration were to move toward legalizing cannabis in France, it would almost certainly wait until the second half of its term. Until then, many envious eyes will turn to other countries: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Uruguay, the California or the Canada For recreational use, almost all of the countries bordering France medical use.