CBD Flowers Finally Allowed For Sale In France, Farmers Free To Grow Sans Prior Purchase Contract

Following a legal battle that has lasted almost a year, the French Council of State (Conseil d’État) has cancelled its ban on the sale of CBD flowers in the country after the ban was suspended in 2022, writes Cannabis Wealth.  

As of Dec. 29, 2022, the Litigation Section of the Council of State officially canceled the ban on the sale and consumption of raw CBD hemp flowers and leaves.

At the same time, judges erased the demand for hemp farmers to enter into a contract with a buyer before starting production.

France first forbade these sales in 2021, with the implementation of article R5132-86 of the French Public Health Cose, which regulates the hemp market. While the regulations on hemp were praised, there was criticism of the ban on hemp-based CBD flower sales.

According to the outlet, organizations such as the Syndicat du Chanvre (The Professional Hemp Union), L630, the Union des Professionnels du CBD and others argued that the decree is disadvantaging the sector and depriving consumers of a needed product.

President of the French Association of Cannabinoid Producers (AFPC), which represent more than 300 hemp producers, Piotrowski François Guillaume, welcomed the decision of the council, saying it will enable all CBD players to “develop their activities serenely.”

“The PSAC will continue, for its part, its work of exchange and cooperation with the public authorities, deploring the inaction of the traditional interprofessions of hemp on all the files relating to hemp with active ingredients, in order to develop an appropriate regulatory framework, allowing the development of a strong and prosperous French industry,” Guillaume said.

The ban came despite the Court of Justice of the European Union ruling (in 2020) that CBD was not a narcotic and that the EU member states may not ban the marketing of the whole cannabis plant.

Cannabis In France

In 2019, France announced plans to commence a medicinal cannabis pilot, which is due to end in March 2023. In the fall of 2022, Santé France Cannabis, an association that brings together several representatives of the future medical cannabis sector in France, recommended ‘planning the postponement’ of the legalization of medical cannabis by one year.

The association sent a letter to lawmakers noting that “the national actors gathered in ‘Santé France Cannabis’ propose – as some public decision-makers envisage – to provide for the postponement of one year of the generalization, planned for March 2023, in order to allow the time necessary for the sector to organize.”

"Three options are then available: the legalization of medical cannabis, a second pilot project, or an abandonment of the project altogether," reported NewsWeed.fr.

In France, weed cultivation for therapeutic use is technically legal, however, the Government has not yet defined the methods of MMJ cultivation and production to allow companies to work outside the context of R&D, reported Business CANN.

French lawmakers recently shared their expectations on hemp production, projecting it would bring between €1.5 ($1.58 billion) to €2.5 billion in annual turnover, resulting in 18,000 to 20,000 jobs. 

Earlier in 2022, 31 senators co-signed a letter published in Le Monde exploring several options for cannabis legalization in France.

Photo: Benzinga Edit with images by Iwan Wasyl on Pexels, Shutterstock