France: L'Ordre des Pharmaciens wants exclusive distribution of medical cannabis

Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament (French National Agency for Drug Safety) mobilized a specialized committee on «the relevance and feasibility of making medical cannabis available in France». If medical cannabis is legalized in France, the question of its status and conditions of access will be central. Pharmacists, as intermediaries between patients and medicines, will play a vital role in the legal medical cannabis market.

The committee, which brings together experts from a wide range of backgrounds, organizes public hearings that are also open to the public. available in full on Youtube. Yesterday's hearings included Carine Wolf-Thal, President of the Conseil National de l'Ordre des Pharmaciens, who spoke about the status of cannabis. Depending on the plant's status, access to medical cannabis may be more or less restricted.

Cannabis: what status for pharmacists?

According to the French Pharmacists' Association, the plant should not obtain medicinal plant status because of the risks associated with its misuse and potential abuse. Medicinal plant status potentially opens up the sale of the whole plant to people other than pharmacists, as with garlic, chamomile or saffron.

On the other hand, the status of «pharmaceutical preparation» implies that the plant-based preparation is made by the pharmacist himself for the specific needs of one or more patients, and therefore falls under the status of a medicine. The President also raises the possibility of considering cannabis as a "pharmaceutical preparation". raw material for pharmaceutical use which implies that it must be totally or partially transformed before acquiring drug status.

The President also expressed the need for «clear rules to guarantee the efficacy, quality and safety of the products dispensed, and to secure the chain in the service of the patient» and «to determine the involvement of pharmacists».

If you read between the lines, the Ordre des Pharmaciens is keeping a close eye on its potential future business.