Santé France Cannabis recommends «postponing» the legalization of medical cannabis for a year

In a short note sent to members of parliament, Santé France Cannabis, an association that brings together a number of players representing the future medical cannabis sector in France, recommends «postponing» the legalization of medical cannabis in France for a year.

As a reminder, the’current experimentation with therapeutic cannabis ends next March. After that, there are three options: the legalization of medical cannabis, a second experiment or an outright ban. A report by a body external to the Ministry of Health is due to be presented to Parliament this Monday, September 26, to evaluate the system and fuel debate on the next steps to be taken.

As recently covered, the extension of medical cannabis experimentation is being widely studied, Santé France Cannabis agrees.

«The national players united in “Santé France Cannabis” are proposing - just as some public decision-makers are considering - to provide for a one-year postponement of generalization, scheduled for March 2023, to give the industry the time it needs to get organized,» the note concludes.

Santé France Cannabis fears that «the generalization of the use of these drugs or the extension of experimentation would, under current conditions, favor foreign players to the detriment of the French industry».

Cultivation of cannabis for therapeutic use and related operations are technically legal in France. However, it remains to be defined how medical cannabis can be grown or processed, so that medical cannabis companies can work outside the R&D context.

If medical cannabis were legalized in April 2023, however, patient supply would not rely solely on imports.

Cannabis flower production is effectively reduced to R&D at the moment, but extraction has been worked on since 2021 by French companies like Alkion BioInnovations. Meryll Buet, CEO of Alkion, confirms that she will be able to supply patients with cannabis extracts and API as early as April 2023. Should the trial be extended, Alkion will either be able to supply cannabis-based medical products if the chosen scheme allows, or produce for export if it is granted non-R&D production authorization.

For Franck Milone, President of LaFleur, In the words of the French medical cannabis company, «we need to generalize as quickly as possible and give French companies the opportunity to accelerate the development and marketing of their products». The Anjou-based company would also be able to supply medical cannabis products, not manufactured in France, from April 2023.

When questioned about this note, Santé France Cannabis declined to publish its answers in Newsweed.