An obstacle to the light cannabis boom
The government's decision to tighten the screws on the CBD market was made to mark the occasion with a stricter regulation of the CBD market, which has been growing in popularity throughout the year 2021. The field of cannabidiol, which continues to develop in France, has just been slowed down according to a decree published yesterday in the Journal Officiel. Indeed, the document confirms that the sale of raw CBD flowers and leaves, for smoking or in herbal tea, is prohibited in France as of today.
This decision, which was not unexpected to say the least, is nevertheless likely to do a lot of damage to the 1700 or so CBD shops that were counted throughout the country by the Union of CBD Professionals. It should be noted that although there are many products derived from this molecule from the hemp plant, such as cosmetics and food products, e-liquids and pet food, 70% of CBD shop sales concern its simplest form in dried flowers.
France's intransigence regarding controls on trafficking in cannabis with THC
As a reminder, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruling on the Kanavape case in November 2020 established that as CBD was neither a medicine nor a narcotic, there was no reason to prohibit the sale of cannabidiol products in France, although the processing of cannabis remained prohibited. As a result, many products based on this substance with no psychoactive effect were circulating in the country.
It is true that France, complying with EU law, has always been keen to provide a proper framework for the industrial and commercial use of CBD-derived products, even if they are non-psychotropic, particularly for practical reasons, since the circulation of these products in their raw form would make them much more difficult to control.
