The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Cannabis: 5 minutes to understand the standoff between France and Europe around the CBD

2021-06-18T04:49:35.733Z


Shops specializing in the sale of products extracted from this cannabis-derived molecule exist by the hundreds in France since


It is a decision that will set a precedent and should influence the government's plans to ban the sale of cannabidiol, a molecule derived from cannabis better known by its acronym of CBD.

Seizure about the alleged offense of the CBD store "The Pot Company" in Dijon, whose products had been consigned by the police in 2019, the Court of Cassation ruled on Tuesday that the prohibition of the sale of products containing CBD could not be ordered in the absence of evidence that they fell into the category of narcotics.

Since 2019, many traders, including florists, have yet been sentenced throughout France to heavy fines and even prison terms for having marketed CBD.

Has the situation now changed?

We explain to you.

Is CBD a narcotic?

Unlike its famous cousin, THC, cannabidiol does not exhibit any psychotropic effects.

Boosted by its analgesic and tranquilizing powers, it acts on epilepsy, psychiatric disorders or even certain forms of cancer.

In France, "only its seeds and fibers can be used and not its flowers where the active substances of cannabis are concentrated", specifies the Directorate General of Health (DGS).

Read alsoCBD: a florist finds himself in court because of a legal imbroglio

To be marketed, products derived from the plant, including e-cigarette liquids, capsules and confectionery must contain less than 0.2% THC.

In 2018, and in just a few months, dozens of shops specializing in these derivative products were opened across France.

Their managers have found a legal "loophole" by selling products with very little THC, but a concentration of cannabidiol.

However, they are prohibited from presenting them as having therapeutic or beneficial virtues, under penalty of criminal sanction.

What is the European Union's position on CBD?

A wall separates French and European regulations on CBD.

On November 19, 2020, after being seized by the cannabis criminal, Ingrid Metton, who defended in Marseille two managers sentenced to 15 and 18 months in prison suspended and 10,000 euros fine, the Court of Justice of the Union European Union (CJEU) ruled illegal the ban on the sale of CBD in France in the name of the free movement of goods.

A real snub for French regulations.

For the CJEU, these sentences are abusive: CBD-based products, including hemp plants, cannot be assimilated to narcotics "in the light of scientific knowledge" when they contain less than 0.2% THC .

This molecule present in hemp (or cannabis sativa) has no

"No psychotropic effect or harmful effect on human health", continues the Court of Justice of the EU in its decree.

How then to explain the resistance of France?

France persists in banning the marketing of cannabidiol and its flowers, which it assimilates to narcotics.

On May 25, despite the judgment rendered by the CJEU, Matignon specified that "the placing on the market of floral tops or raw leaves for smoking or herbal tea was prohibited, just like products incorporating raw hemp".

A restriction "justified by reasons of order and public health".

Because, the government justifies itself, without analysis of the seized herb, it is impossible to know if the consumer has narcotic cannabis, highly dosed in THC, or cannabis "well-being" dominated by the CBD molecule.

The difference between a hemp flower and a cannabis flower is very difficult to establish without performing laboratory analyzes.

AFP / Fabrice COFFRINI FABRICE COFFRINI

According to Nicolas Septe, the Saintes prosecutor deemed particularly severe on seizures of CBD, which intervened last March in our columns, "the priority nature of public health and the principle of precaution" would thus allow France to derogate from European law .

“We want to avoid any circumvention of the law to sell narcotics.

CBD is like proselytizing in favor of their consumption, ”he said.

Does the decision of the Court of Cassation change the game?

On May 25, Matignon indicated that his text banning the sale of dried CBD flowers would be sent to the European Commission in the coming weeks before being published in the Official Journal.

But the government now seems to be in bad shape.

“On June 9, the Colmar Court of Appeal has already rendered a decision which sanctioned the principle according to which, including flowers, products containing less than 0.2% THC were not narcotics, breathes Aurélien Delecroix, the president of the Professional Hemp Union.

So we do not see how the decree as it wants to be amended by the authorities could comply with European regulations.

"

Next judicial meeting on June 23. A general decision on the marketing of CBD, under European law, will then be rendered by the Court of Cassation.

Source: leparis

All life articles on 2021-06-18

You may like

News/Politics 2024-01-31T06:28:52.256Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.