Polynesia to legalize CBD and then medical cannabis

After his first 100 days in office, Moetai Brotherson announced this week that the bill to legalize CBD in Polynesia was ready.

The bill, known as Article LP3, establishes an innovative framework for the use and importation of hemp. Article LP3 authorizes the people of French Polynesia to «transport, import, export, possess, offer, transfer, acquire, process, and use products containing or derived from hemp seeds.» These products must be «free of narcotic properties,» meaning that their THC content must currently be less than 0.3%.

In Polynesia’s tropical climates, however, Cannabis plants produce an abundance of phytocannabinoids, making it difficult for the local industry to maintain the 0.3 % THC threshold set by French standards. The Polynesian Hemp Syndicate, led by its president, Philippe Cathelain, has called for this threshold to be raised to 1%, taking local conditions into account. This recommendation stems from a fact-finding mission by the French National Assembly, which emphasized the need for flexibility in the overseas territories, as is This is already the case for Réunion.

This new legislation has three key components. In addition to legalizing CBD, the Ministry of Agriculture has drafted a second bill addressing the cultivation and processing of hemp. But the most eagerly awaited component is the third one, which concerns medical cannabis. Beyond CBD’s stress-relieving properties, healthcare professionals are particularly interested in THC’s pain-relieving potential.

Philippe Dupire, a pharmacist at the French Polynesia Hospital Center, emphasizes to TNTV that THC can be valuable in treating intractable pain and neurological conditions such as epilepsy. However, the text specifies that products containing hemp or cannabinoids may not make therapeutic claims unless they are authorized as medications. Currently, only three cannabis-based medications are available in metropolitan France, and this new legislation will allow them to be imported into French Polynesia.

The law provides for exceptions for certain medications, allowing their use «on an exceptional basis» when «the treatment is likely to benefit the patient» and «the efficacy and safety of these medications are strongly presumed based on the current state of scientific knowledge.» The Polynesian Council of Ministers will draw up a list of these exceptional medications, which will likely include cannabis extracts and flowers.

The full bill is expected to be released to the public in «the coming days.».