The National Assembly votes in favor of therapeutic cannabis trials

This morning, the French National Assembly voted in favor of an amendment concerning the experimentation of therapeutic cannabis in France. Approximately 3,000 patients will be able to legally benefit from cannabis-based treatment in 2020, for a period of two years.

The’experimentation with medical cannabis has been available since this summer: cannabis in the form of dried flowers, oil or capsules, prescribed by a specialist doctor on a secure prescription renewable every 28 days in hospital. On the other hand, the ANSM formed a CST at the beginning of the month to define the operational details of this test. A patient registry still needs to be designed and set up, volunteer doctors need to be trained and medical cannabis needs to be sourced abroad.

While this experiment is generally recognized as a step forward for the patients concerned, given that France lags behind its European neighbors, the limited nature of the test is criticized. Bertrand Rambaud, a member of the future CST, spoke to France Bleu yesterday: «Today, there is sufficient scientific research at international level to demonstrate the efficacy of medical cannabis. 41 pathologies have been listed by the International Association of Medical Cannabis, which brings together health professionals in Europe, and we are conducting an experiment that will last 2 years on 5 indications. We're already behind schedule, and we're falling further behind. Meanwhile, patients are suffering. [...] Even if it's too slow, and we're in a political time frame when patients need therapeutic cannabis now, [...] it's still a step forward compared with the situation we've had for several years».

At the end of the experiment, medical cannabis could be legalized for good in France.