Medical cannabis: patients and companies mobilize for its widespread use

Like Newsweed revealed it last week, The French Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) published this Wednesday does not include provisions for the generalization of medical cannabis. Companies in the sector and patients waiting for a therapeutic option are alarmed by this absence, and are mobilizing to call for generalization, which is still possible via amendments to the PLFSS that could be supported by certain MPs.

«Experimentation must give way to legislation».»

Seventeen patient associations, representing people with illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, epilepsy and others, call for the widespread use of therapeutic cannabis in an opinion piece published on Le Parisien.

Worried that medical cannabis, which currently helps 1,700 patients relieve severe pain, is in danger of being abandoned or subject to restrictive use policies, these patients stress the urgent need to widen access to medical cannabis, emphasizing its established practice in many Western countries as a means of relieving pain and suffering.

The group of associations was keen to point out that test launched in March 2021 was to evaluate the circuit for making medical cannabis available to patients suffering from chronic and severe pain, including those with multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, severe neuropathic pain, spasticity due to central nervous system disorders, cancer and palliative situations at the end of life.

For many patients, cannabis-based medicines offer not only an alternative, but also «a glimmer of hope in the face of ineffective or poorly tolerated treatments». However, despite promising trial results, Recent developments are poised to leave almost 300,000 patients in prolonged suffering.

The government's 2022 commitment to legalize and provide access to medical cannabis now seems uncertain, leaving patients in distress. The associations are therefore concerned by the government's contradictory signals and lack of action, and urge the authorities to keep their promise to integrate medical cannabis into common law without hindering patient access.

«The French industry is ready»

In an article published on Capital.fr, Frantz Deschamps, President of Santé France Cannabis, the French association of medical cannabis players, insists that the French cannabis industry is well poised to excel in the medical cannabis sector and supply the first patients.

Over the past three years, French players in the sector have been diligently preparing the ground, setting up a secure supply chain to guarantee the quality and safety of medical cannabis. Substantial investment has gone into research and development, cultivation, the development of innovative medicines and the creation of state-of-the-art manufacturing processes. The industry has worked closely with public authorities to share data and ideas, with the aim of developing a legal framework that meets the needs of patients while respecting the safety standards of production sites and the quality of medicines.

For Santé France Cannabis, with decisions on the post-experimentation period imminent, a further extension would be detrimental and risk compromising the viability of a burgeoning French cannabis industry. What's more, the creation of such an industry in France would be crucial for health sovereignty, a lesson underlined by the COVID-19 pandemic. France «has everything it needs to excel at every level of the value chain, from research to production and distribution».

Santé France Cannabis is therefore calling for medical cannabis to be incorporated into common law, to guarantee genuine access for patients.