What was the outcome of the first meeting of the Espoir Impatient collective, which gathers and publicizes the expectations of French medical cannabis patients?

At the end of its first round table, held on Sunday May 5 in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, the Espoir (Im)patient collective was officially launched. We mentioned it in a previous article, it aims to federate patients so that their voices are taken into account in the CSST's decision-making process. The latter is preparing a experimentation with medical cannabis in France by the end of the year.

What was said at the round table

The round table brought together some thirty patients and their families, as well as healthcare professionals and experts. Patients were able to share their needs and expectations regarding the ANSM's plan to open up access to cannabis for therapeutic purposes, following the launch of the "Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes" program. of the CSST's conclusions. At the end of June, the committee is due to give its opinion on how to make cannabis available for therapeutic purposes. «It's essential that the patient voice is fully heard in this debate, because the expectations are immense», explains Mado Gilanton, spokesperson for Espoir (Im)patient.

The main expectations expressed by patients are as follows:

• that general practitioners can also prescribe cannabis for therapeutic purposes
• that therapeutic cannabis be reimbursed by Social Security and possibly mutual health insurance companies
• that the list of pathologies for which access to cannabis is conditional be extended on the basis of existing scientific evidence, taking observational studies into account. The list of conditions currently includes only chronic pain refractory to existing therapies, certain forms of severe and drug-resistant epilepsy, supportive care in oncology, palliative care and spasticity in multiple sclerosis.
• that research be encouraged from now on by a real political will
• the future distribution circuit must serve the whole country. Within the legal framework of an «experiment», this can be limited to a particular territory of the Republic.
• that cannabis no longer be considered a treatment of last resort, but an option like any other. For the time being, the CSST is only considering it as a treatment of last resort.
• that the forms in which cannabis is authorized are not limited and can thus respond to the diversity of cases
• the introduction of appropriate training for healthcare professionals in all specialties

«We're very happy, the meeting was a success,» says Sara Velimirovic, a representative of the collective. «We succeeded in communicating the urgency of the situation and the CSST timetable to patients. So they're informed about what's going on, about the regulatory change that concerns them. We also didn't expect this level of media coverage. We succeeded in creating debate and raising public awareness, and that's very important,» she adds.

The collective is currently working on an open letter co-signed by various associations, which will then be sent to the French authorities as an expression of patients' expectations.