What was said at the National Assembly symposium on hemp and well-being?

On July 11, the French National Assembly held a symposium on hemp wellness, i.e. the non-industrial uses of hemp. The event was organized by Jean-Baptiste Moreau, MP for Creuse, Joël Labbé, Senator for Morbihan, and Sandrine Le Feur, MP for Finistère, Ludovic Mendes (Member of Parliament for Moselle) and the Syndicat Professionnel du Chanvre (SPC), over 250 people attended three round-table discussions in the Salle Colbert. The symposium ended with the announcement by Jean-Baptiste Moreau of the creation of an information mission on cannabis use to be held in September.

The symposium in detail

Introduction

Olivier Véran, LREM MP for Isère, began by recalling his work on therapeutic cannabis and developments on the subject in Europe. He took the opportunity to announce that the ANSM had just validated the conclusions of the CSST, This will be done in response to the need to observe patients' needs. He is following CBD-related issues with interest.

Joël Labbé, senator in charge of a mission on herbalism, expressed his satisfaction at seeing the National Assembly take up the subject of cannabis, which he believes has many virtues, noting the importance of co-constructing the subject with several political parties.

Pierre-Yves Geoffard, co-editor of the Conseil d'Analyse Economique, which called for the legalization of cannabis in France, estimates the CBD market in France at 100-150 tonnes of flower, representing sales of between 1 and 2 billion euros, with jobs mainly created in distribution. The CBD market is even less well known than the cannabis market, and represents only a fraction of it. It therefore recommends the introduction of fine-tuned monitoring tools to track supply trends and adapt public policy.

1st round table: a new dynamic for farmers and entrepreneurs?

Lorenza Romanese, representative of’European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), the European body that brings together hemp farmers and processors, sees hemp as a means of bringing rural areas back to life and has called for the release of the flower and leaf for the wellness market, while recalling hemp's many uses and its unrivalled ecological virtues. The market and the industry are ready, all that remains is to provide a clear regulatory framework.

Bruno Verdonnet and Jouany Chatoux, farmers on the Franco-Swiss border and in the Creuse region respectively, couldn't agree more. For them, CBD represents a life-saving income supplement and an opportunity for the State to revitalize impoverished areas.

Round-table 2: Innovations and reconversions: significant economic potential?

Claude Alziar, from the Arkopharma laboratory, sees the stakes in CBD as much from the point of view of user benefits as from the economic opportunity it represents, for example as a replacement for current anxiolytics. Other countries are already marketing these products, but France can't afford to ignore them.

Cédric Heeb, representative of the Communauté d'Intérêt du Chanvre suisse, advises France to take its time, especially as this allows Switzerland to do a lot of business. He recalls the context of a prohibition that brought nothing, and the Swiss administrative measures that enabled the CBD market to develop, notably the 1% THC limit for legal varieties. In 2019, 600 companies are working on the subject, compared with 5 in 2014.

For Laurent Depieds, President of the Comité des Plantes à Parfum Aromatiques et Médicinales (CPPARM), hemp is a way of working with biodiversity. He would like to add this plant to their sector to create a sustainable and viable industry for farmers.

Transition

Gilles Boin, the lawyer behind the first relaxation of CBD stores, This is because the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Common Agricultural Policy place no restrictions on the parts of the hemp plant that can be used, and have already warned of potential health risks. The Kanavape trial, in addition to raising a sword of Damocles hanging over France, has led to several relaxations for stores selling CBD cannabis.

3rd round table: structuring the industry for secure, sustainable development

Guillaume Gontard, a senator from Isère who took part in Joël Labbé's herbalist mission, saw the issues surrounding cannabis come to the fore during his parliamentary work. The hemp industry has done a great deal to structure itself over the years. Now it's the turn of the non-industrial sector.

Pierre-Yves Normand, a hemp grower from Brittany, also agrees. Hemp's current waste products (the flowers) have the potential to generate new revenues, as well as being an ecological alternative or complement.

This observation was shared by Marie Lehouck, who represented the French Ministry of Ecological Transition that day, and confirmed the ministry's interest in hemp.

Grégoire Torralba, CEO of Entourage, a French company based in Switzerland, believes that the massification of the market will go further than just CBD flower, and will concern cannabis' historic customers, but above all new customers. This entrepreneur had to move to Switzerland to work legally, but insists on the need for regulation in France, with a certified and sustainable industry.

Announcement of the fact-finding mission

The symposium ended with Jean-Baptiste Moreau announcing the creation of an information mission on cannabis use. There are three stages to this mission:

• on therapeutic cannabis, the need to set up a French production chain for cannabis for medical use, to be operational by the end of the ANSM experiment at the latest
• on hemp for well-being, the urgent need for clear regulations geared to the development of a French CBD industry
• on cannabis for adult use, the desire for an in-depth discussion on a complex subject, with the aim of informing the public debate and recommendations for the upcoming presidential elections

The fact-finding mission will be supported by 4 commissions: the Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning Commission, the Law Commission, the Social Affairs Commission and the Economic Affairs Commission.

It is due to start in September, although there is no official timetable for the moment.