CBD at the Conseil d'Etat: towards the authorization of all CBD products?

On December 30, the French government issued a decree restricting the sale of hemp leaves and flowers to «the industrial production of hemp extracts».» prohibiting their sale to private individuals in CBD stores or online.

The CBD industry, whose CBD flowers account for 50 to 70% of in-store sales, had not waited to prepare its legal response and file a référé-liberté.

«We spent our New Year's Eve there on December 31, then lodged our appeal with the Conseil d'Etat on January 1. It was duly registered on January 3, and was not rejected. So we're hoping that the judge will rule this week.», Yann Bisiou told us at the time, a specialist in drug law and legal consultant to the Union des Professionnels du CBD (UPCBD).

The summary hearing was held in mid-January. It was an opportunity for the CBD world to make its voice heard to the Conseil d'Etat and highlight both the economic importance of the flower trade and the contradictions of authorizing flower production for extract but not for direct sale.

«The government says, »Apple juice is fine. Apple is a narcotic, and I'm not exaggerating!" , joked lawyer Cédric Uzan Sarano, who defends the Syndicat Professionnel du Chanvre (SPC) and the Green Leaf company.

The Conseil d'Etat finally handed down its decision at the end of January. suspended the ban on the sale of CBD flowers the government and supported by the MILDECA. Since then, the sale of hemp flowers has no longer been prohibited, with no real legal framework to regulate the trade, apart from a maximum THC content of 0.3%.

As distilled in one of our articles yesterday, The Conseil d'Etat is due to meet tomorrow, Wednesday December 14, to rule on the pending ban on the sale of hemp flowers and leaves to private individuals. The public rapporteur submitted his conclusions yesterday, which the L630 association was able to access: he recommends deleting Article 1 II of the Decree of December 30, 2021, which bans the sale of CBD flowers to individuals and restricts hemp cultivation to active farmers.

As Yann Bisiou reminds us, «.« in 9 cases out of 10, the Conseil d'Etat follows the public rapporteur's lead« . The final decision will be made in the days or weeks following the hearing.