French Polynesia To Overhaul Marijuana Law For Better Access: Repeals Old Law To Make Way For Simpler, New One

The French Polynesia Assembly recently voted to repeal a law that was supposed to help medical marijuana legalization in this overseas European Union country. Per the report, the lawmakers repealed the law, not because they were against the idea of legalization, but because of the complexity of implementation of the original law, writes Business of Cannabis.

The motivation behind the repeal is to help create a new law that would actually yield the results.

Non-registered representatives, including Nicole Sanquer, leader of A Here ia Porinetia deemed the law of Jan. 5, 2023, as too complex to be implemented in time. Sanquer also added it is important to depoliticize the process of legalization. The majority of the pro-independence political party in French Polynesia, Tāvini Huiraʻatira, voted to repeal the law, which was described by the country’s president Moteai Bortherson as a “gas factory.” Originally a French expression, usine à gaz (a gas plant or factory) is used to describe a complicated way of working or a labyrinthine system.

Sanquer further highlighted the urgency of regulating medical marijuana use in the country and the need for a more effective and targeted approach.

Brotherson’s government now has a task to draft new legislation that will simplify the legalization process, allow traditional practitioners to prescribe the medicine and authorize the import of marijuana-based medicines. The Minister of Health, Cedric Mercadal, said that the new draft text should be submitted before the end of December, and the presentation to the Assembly is scheduled for January.

See Also: Euro Weed: 822 'Spam' Amendments Block Medical Marijuana In Ukraine, Bosnia & Herzegovina Conference

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Tomas Gonzalez de Rosenzweig via Unsplash and nneem from Pixabay