Successive lockdowns have hit the French economy hard.
Many non-essential businesses have been forced to close their doors because of health restrictions imposed to fight the pandemic.
But not the stores offering cannabis seeds or materials for their cultivation.
They are always full.
The government considers vegetable plants, seeds and seeds to be essential products.
The garden centers therefore remain open.
“And that applies to us too,” laughs Didier
(the name has been changed)
, who owns a well-established business dedicated exclusively to the sale of collectible cannabis seeds.
“We have the right to sell, but not to cultivate cannabis, the law is still schizophrenic,” he comments.
Because our customers all buy to plant and smoke.
If not, who would benefit from owning a seed?
"
As of 2019, the simple use of cannabis is normally only punished with a maximum penalty of one year in prison or a fine of up to 3,750 euros.
Only the marketing of cannabis seeds is authorized, but their germination tilts into illegality.
Finally, we must distinguish the CBD whose sale and consumption is authorized because this product has a THC level (the psychotropic molecule of cannabis) of less than 0.2%.
The vast majority of the population does not even suspect the existence of this type of trade.
And even if it is authorized, managers remain cautious.
In general, Didier, living in a working-class district in the north of Paris, kicks in when his clients ask him too many questions.
"I'm a little paranoid, if I get caught proselytizing, I risk losing my store," he said.
So I refer to specialized websites.
"But he sometimes cracks:" The people who come to me are often those who seek advice, so we must still answer them, he admits.
And I have more and more beginners over the past two years. ”
Since the Covid, consumers have a green thumb
Contacted, two shops offering cannabis seeds
(Editor's note: not to be confused with CBD, a product with a very low level of THC, the molecule responsible for psychoactive effects)
admitted to having experienced an increase in their “higher” turnover. at 10% since the start of confinement ”.
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Perhaps a desire to grow your own weed, because gardening in general is booming.
Or a response to the lack: "There were import problems and a shortage of cannabis in March-April 2020," recalls Stéphanie Cherbonnier, director of the anti-narcotics office (Ofast), which indicates that 115,000 plants of cannabis products in France were seized in 2020, spread over 3,141 sites and growing in 40% of cases outdoors.
“For two years there has been an exponential growth of cannabis factories (
cultivation farms, or large warehouses run by dealers)
where profitability has been taken to the extreme, continues Stéphanie Cherbonnier.
On the other hand, it is difficult to measure the phenomenon among gardeners who cultivate for their personal consumption.
Because the small seizures are made at random, incidentally, because investigators intervene somewhere for another reason.
But it is true that the cultivation of cannabis before confined to the overseas territories, is developing in metropolitan France.
"
GMOs that adapt to our climate
Plants from autoflowering seeds, genetically modified, no longer need a tropical climate.
This does not prevent stores offering indoor gardening equipment from also recording higher profits.
"I made 30% more sales in 2020," confirms the manager of a business located in a district in full gentrification north of Paris.
And the vast majority of my clients grow cannabis in their cellar or in a room in their apartment.
People who come for their tomato plants are marginal.
"
His store displays color: a psychedelic logo, decoration in the colors of the Jamaican flag and posters that will only speak to the young hipsters of the neighborhood.
Superimposed near the counter, boxes of "Canna" brand fertilizer complete the appeal of the gardener-smoker.
Behind the window, enthroned what he calls "boxes": a sort of tent housing a plant where the humidity and lighting are adapted to the different stages of cannabis development, from germination to harvest.
"The air is recycled and with the extractor, no neighbor will be able to smell the smell of cannabis", assures the manager to the customer.
"What effect are you looking for?
rather physical or mental? "
Nice, it even offers some solutions as long as you are a little handyman to do without the box.
"Otherwise, I have a pre-established estimate, it takes around 400 euros, but everything will then be reusable for as many harvests as you wish", continues this unparalleled guide.
The only thing missing is the seed.
He does not sell any.
"It is better to separate seeds and equipment, otherwise you might think you are being encouraged to grow cannabis!"
he laughs, winking, before advising two clients.
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Located in the south-east of the capital, very close to a tourist site, the seed store has a more sober design, but still presents products derived from cannabis on the shelves.
A little suspicious, the manager finally relaxed as the banter conversation continued.
"What effect are you looking for?
rather physical or mental?
Asks someone who knows that we have the right to own a seed but that the cultivation or consumption of cannabis is prohibited.
“The Sativa variety will be more psychedelic than an Indica for example,” he explains.
The customer can leaf through a catalog of several hundred seeds, the prices of which vary from 5 to 70 euros.
Their names make you smile: American cookie, Fat banana, Wedding cake ...
The trader confides that it is better to avoid certain pages: "There are varieties, you have to know about gardening for them to grow," he believes.
There are each time: the yield, the future THC level or the effects when the weed is smoked ...
One of the technical sheets of a variety of cannabis seed in one of the Parisian stores.
LP / FL
“As with wine lovers, real smokers can isolate the aromas that we describe to you, such as the mango and fruity side of Delahaze, for example”, supports the manager, surprised that we do not pay in cash: “People are afraid that we will be traced back to them.
Me, I remain discreet, I have been open for many years and I have never been bothered by the police.
"
"Even if we closed these businesses, it wouldn't stop anything, we can find everything on the Internet"
When questioned later, a policeman from this arrondissement was unaware that a shop sells cannabis seeds in his area: “But isn't that illegal?
"We produce technical notes for the police and gendarmes in the field, in order to inform them about the legislation which often evolves," confides the boss of Ofast.
And we are taking actions against the stores of equipment or seeds, but it is very difficult to have a legal procedure held because the managers know how to play with the limits of the law.
And then, even if we were to close these businesses, that would stop nothing, we find everything on the Internet from companies based mainly in the Netherlands and Spain.
"