French Polynesia votes to legalize medical cannabis (but...)

On Thursday November 17, the Polynesian assembly adopted the legalization of medical cannabis. However, local MPs are concerned that the text is too fragile, and denounce the opportunism of the State, which acted without consultation.

The President of Polynesia, Edouard Fritch, is dragging his feet on the legalization of the therapeutic use of cannabis, a policy that falls within the competence of the Polynesian state and does not require the endorsement of mainland France. Fritch, who regularly speaks of the «perverse effects» of medical cannabis and the need for a «social debate», until recently preferred the results of a study conducted in Polynesia on local cannabis varieties before proposing a text.

Medical cannabis in Polynesia?

However, this week the Polynesian government presented a text on the modification of the classification of poisonous substances, which would make it possible to set up a derogatory regime in Polynesia for cannabis for therapeutic use, from production to marketing.

However, according to local reports, the government's text has a number of flaws that could well see it overturned by the courts. What's more, it is accused both of arriving shortly before important elections and of not having been written in consultation with professionals and social partners. It also bypasses a more comprehensive bill which was tabled over a year ago by MP Nicole Sanquer, a prominent opposition figure to President Edouard Fritch, but never studied.

For the president of the A Here ia Porinetia party, the country's law on therapeutic cannabis is a «disappointment».

«This text has not been the subject of any consultation with local players, traditional practitioners or the patients themselves, even though the President had called for a broad consultation».» she explained to Radio1.

In her view, the definitions contained in Article 1 are tainted by illegality, and the text could be overturned by the courts, as was the case in 2018.

«The government is directly legalizing the use of medical cannabis, but is not going through an experimental phase. We saw in the legislative commission that the project wasn't mature, that the Minister [of Health] couldn't answer our questions on the pathologies targeted, on prescribing, on distribution, it's all vague and besides, the Minister said it today, if the Country's bill is voted today, its application could be postponed for a year or even several years» says Nicole Sanquer, «since for its application the assembly will still have to vote on deliberations and the council of ministers will have to validate several decrees.»

The legislator must now approve the text before it becomes law, which should happen by the end of the year.