Medical cannabis passes National Assembly with 49.3

On Wednesday, October 25, the Prime Minister called on the Government to take responsibility for the «expenditures» section of the Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) for 2024, thereby approving the inclusion of the «medical cannabis» amendment» introduced by the government on October 23.

The Social Security Financing Bill must now be approved by the Senate.

What does the «medical cannabis» amendment entail?

The amendment introduced by the government provides for temporary status for medical cannabis products. Here are the key points:

• Medical products containing cannabis will now be subject to a «temporary authorization» for five years, with the possibility of renewal by the ANSM for additional five-year periods
• Products will be approved on a case-by-case basis
• The program will not be rolled out until January 2025
• When the current pilot program ends in April 2024, there will be a «transition period» of up to nine months, after which the program is expected to be rolled out on a broader scale
• The government has allocated a budget of 10 million euros for this transition period, which will allow patients to continue to access their medications and receive reimbursement. This is five times the current budget for the pilot program.
• Even after widespread legalization, access to medical cannabis will remain limited to use as a last resort and may only be prescribed in a hospital setting
• The prices for each product have yet to be determined, but they will be based on prices in European countries with comparable market sizes
• The criteria for prescribing medical cannabis will be established at a later date by decree, based on a forthcoming proposal from the ANSM
• Flowers and other inhalable forms of cannabis products will be excluded

Although this decision was widely welcomed by the industry, which rightly attributed the amendment to the sustained pressure exerted by patient groups and companies In this sector, a number of key questions remain unanswered.

First and foremost, activists are wondering why access remains so restricted for patients, who must have tried all other treatment options before they can receive medical cannabis.

Furthermore, since no budget has yet been set for the program’s expansion, many are wondering whether reimbursement will continue as it did during the pilot program.

The French Drug Policy Reform Group L630 also raised the issue of concerns about data protection, as the current text stipulates that companies supplying medical cannabis to patients must collect data on patients' consumption and their response to treatment.