Dr. Pascal Douek, a tireless advocate for medical cannabis in France, has died

Dr. Pascal Douek, a physician living with multiple sclerosis and a staunch advocate for medical cannabis in France, passed away last week. His death marks the loss of a voice dedicated to the fight for patient access to cannabis-based treatments, at a time when France is still awaiting a permanent legal framework.

For Pascal Douek, medical cannabis was a matter of dignity, relief, and the right of seriously ill patients to explore alternative treatments.

A doctor who understood the reality of chronic illness

Trained in sports medicine and micronutrition, Pascal Douek was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2012. His experience transformed his view of medicine, placing patients’ daily challenges at the center of his work.

For nearly ten years, he volunteered with France Sclérose en Plaques, running a weekly medical hotline. Every Monday, he answered questions about treatments, nutrition, and living with the disease.

Dans son hommage, l’association a salué la mémoire d’un médecin profondément humain, dont la bienveillance, la disponibilité et la qualité d’écoute ont accompagné et soutenu pendant près de dix ans les personnes atteintes de sclérose en plaques.

Beyond his medical expertise, Pascal Douek brought something particularly valuable to the table: the perspective of someone who understood chronic illness from both sides of the exam room.

From a skeptic of medical cannabis to a patient advocate

In 2018, Dr. Douek joined the Temporary Specialized Scientific Committee (CSST) established to evaluate the introduction of the medical cannabis in France. Nommé pour porter la voix des patients, il connaissait alors encore peu les applications thérapeutiques du cannabis. Ce sont les témoignages des malades, et notamment leurs récits sur les bénéfices ressentis au quotidien, qui ont progressivement fait évoluer son regard.

People with serious medical conditions described how cannabis had helped them manage their symptoms when conventional treatments did not provide sufficient relief. These testimonials contributed to the committee’s unanimous recommendation to authorize medical cannabis for five therapeutic indications.

Pascal then became interested in cannabis itself, even though it proved difficult to find products with appropriate and consistent concentrations of THC and CBD. In an interview with Psychologies in December 2020, he explained:

«I was able to find relief through cannabis purchased on the black market, but the ’high« is, from a therapeutic standpoint, an undesirable side effect that prevented me from continuing.»

His experience illustrates the current reality of medical cannabis use in France: patients seeking medical relief find themselves left to fend for themselves in an unregulated market, without reliable access to appropriate formulations.

Making medical cannabis accessible to patients

In September 2020, Douek published Medical Cannabis: A New Opportunity, a book designed to explain the therapeutic potential, limitations, and practical challenges of cannabis-based medications. He also advocated for better training for healthcare professionals, highlighting the lack of instruction on cannabinoids in conventional medical curricula.

His position was based both on patient testimonials and on scientific caution. He acknowledged the weaknesses of the existing clinical data while asserting that patients facing therapeutic dead ends deserved special attention.

He obviously supported the French medical cannabis pilot program—in which he was participating—and, as recently as the beginning of this year at Cannabis Europa, called for its rapid expansion.

Patients are still waiting, and time is running out

Pascal Douek’s death highlights a painful reality: nearly seven years after the first steps were taken toward medical cannabis in France, a pilot program initially planned to last two years has become bogged down in successive extensions, without leading to sustainable access for patients.

For those affected, these administrative delays are not mere setbacks. They mean months, then years, of living with pain, disability, and uncertainty—waiting for treatments that could improve their quality of life or being forced into illegal situations. And while decisions are delayed, patients are dying. Pascal Douek is neither the first nor the only one to pass away without seeing the reforms he helped bring about come to fruition.

His passing should serve as a reminder of a simple truth: the pace of institutions is not the same as that of the sick. Every year lost is a year that some patients do not have. Public health issues deserve rigorous scientific debate, which has been widely promoted, but they should never remain indefinitely trapped by political deadlocks. Because while France waits, patients are dying.