The CBD industry prepares its legal response

It didn't take long. The day after the ban on CBD flowers, the industry took the matter to the Conseil d'Etat, the highest administrative court, with a référé-liberté. This emergency procedure makes it possible to quickly suspend a text that jeopardizes freedoms. In this case, the CBD sector is complaining of an obstacle to freedom of enterprise, since flowers account for over half of sales.

«We spent our New Year's Eve there on December 31, then lodged our appeal with the Conseil d'Etat on January 1. It was duly registered on January 3, and was not rejected. So we're hoping that the judge will rule this week.», says Yann Bisiou. This teacher-researcher, a specialist in drug law, is also a legal consultant to the Union des Professionnels du CBD (UPCBD).

«Flowers represent 70 % of our stores» sales. So we can fear redundancies, closures... All this, in addition to the penal risk for the shopkeepers, and the stock they can no longer sell".», says Charles Moral, president of UPCBD.

«I made the choice to continue selling flowers in my stores. If I stopped selling them, it would inevitably mean redundancies, and that's out of the question».», confirms Mao Aoust, founder of High Society stores and member of UPCBD. His view, «nothing changes» because flowers were already not authorized for sale when the 1990 decree was in force.

«Are we banning smoking?»

Further legal action will follow. «The authorities say you can't tell CBD hemp from THC. But yes, you can! We just don't have the means to do it. There are rapid tests to differentiate CBD/THC. So this will be one of the many arguments that will be put forward.», announces Aurélien Delecroix. The president of the Syndicat Professionnel du Chanvre (SPC) is preparing an appeal to the Conseil d'État on grounds of excess of power.

It will highlight the government's contradictions. Indeed, the executive points out that «many carcinogenic elements come from the combustion of organic substances».», when consumers smoke CBD flowers. «Of course products can be smoked, but does that mean we're banning tobacco?, answers Delecroix. In Belgium and Luxembourg, CBD flowers are classified as a smoking plant, like tobacco. Everything is standardized: there is taxation, a health message, a ban on sales to minors, etc.».»

For the Conseil d'Etat to suspend the decree, proof of economic urgency is required. This is particularly the case for farmers.  «Flowers account for 80 to 85 % of our sales. The impact is radical. Will companies resist this? No, it's unlikely. We haven't been able to put a total figure on it, but at least 80 % of our 280 members want to give up.», warns François-Guillaume Piotrowski, President of the Association des Producteurs Français des Cannabinoïdes (AFPC).

He too will lodge an appeal with the courts. But before doing so, he hopes that the French Constitutional Council will rule in his favor. A referral from AFPC attacks the Public Health Code. In their view, it does not precisely define what a narcotic is. So as things stand, the government may consider CBD a narcotic, while international law says otherwise. The answer is expected this Friday, January 7.