Is medical cannabis legal in France?

The question of’therapeutic use of cannabis in France is often discussed in terms of «should France legalize medical cannabis? But is the question the right one?

The therapeutic use of cannabis is legal in France...

The decree of June 5, 2013 to the Public Health Code has legalized the therapeutic use of drugs containing cannabinoids. Medical cannabis is therefore theoretically legal in France, as long as the patient obtains a product with a marketing authorization (AMM).

This decree also paved the way for the arrival of Sativex on the French pharmaceutical market. Sativex is a mouth spray containing natural THC and CBD, designed to relieve spasticity (muscle contractures) in people suffering from multiple sclerosis. And it's with Sativex that the corn arrives.

... but inaccessible

Sativex, the only drug based on natural cannabinoids to have received marketing authorization in France, is still not on the market today, officially for reasons of price, but we have seen that it is not yet available on the market. more reasons in this article.

The facts, medical cannabis is not available in France. The law is there, however, and the validity of the therapeutic use of cannabis is increasingly recognized.

Our European neighbors are less reluctant to introduce genuine regulation of cannabis for medical purposes. L’Germany, for example, has legalized medical cannabis early 2017, in pharmaceutical forms but also as dried flowers, for pathologies ranging from palliative care for the end of life to chronic pain. Visit Denmark set for 4-year test, after which the country could open up its applications even further, while Italy speeds up the availability of medical cannabis.

French patients using or growing cannabis for therapeutic purposes are always convicted, sometimes without penalty but often with it, as the personal, adult use of cannabis is illegal in France.

The headache continues when you know that you can have a prescription for medical cannabis in France but that the patient finds himself in an illegal situation once he has his medication in France.

The medical marijuana in France is the equivalent of Shrödinger's cat: it exists and it doesn't exist.

July 2019 addition: The French health authorities recently decided to accelerate French patients' access to medical cannabis in the form of dried flowers or their derivatives. An experiment will be held at the end of 2019 for 2 years, and will concern very specific pathologies. More information here.