Government rejects domestic production of medical cannabis during experimentation

As part of the hearings on the Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) for 2021, which notably provides a framework for the experimentation of medical cannabis, deputy Caroline Janvier relayed an amendment to Article 38 tabled by the Mission d'Information (MI) on cannabis use.

L’amendment 716 proposed to :

• pay the companies that will supply medical cannabis for the trial, believing that the gratuity requested «runs the risk of giving these foreign companies priority when the system is rolled out».»
• authorize the production of medical cannabis in France as soon as the trial is completed «with a view to the widespread introduction» of medical cannabis in France

Refusal by the general rapporteur

The General Reporter, who passes on the government's opinion to the commissions, has asked for this amendment to be withdrawn.

On the subject of free access, the Rapporteur explained that in order to meet the deadline of a launch in the first quarter of 2021, «we must not call into question the conditions of the decree that has just been issued».

With regard to the creation of a French industry, the Rapporteur pointed out that the government is «working in parallel with the experimentation to modify the article of the public health code in question and enable controlled production in France. This work is taking time, as it involves numerous ministerial consultations, given the long production and farming times involved, and I don't think it's feasible to include French producers in the experimentation, although they could take part in production once the experimentation has been generalized».

Caroline Janvier, speaking on behalf of her IM colleagues, maintained her amendment, which was rejected by a show of hands.

You can find this passage from 1:25 on this video.