2023 has been a milestone year for European cannabis. Europe’s first fully legal adult-use cannabis stores have opened in Switzerland. The first Cannabis Harm Reduction Associations have been licensed in Malta. The Netherlands finally has a legal supply of cannabis to its coffeeshops. France has all but managed to secure a full-scale medical cannabis system. At the same time, Germany’s coalition government has dragged the landmark CanG bill through numerous legislative battles, missing the deadline to have it enacted before the end of the year by a matter of weeks.
As Prohibition Partners’ state progress this year has been ‘incremental, rather than abrupt’.
These accomplishments may seem ‘incremental’ when reflecting on 2023, but the long, arduous and complex battles, often fought by a handful of dedicated cannabis patient groups, advocates, and activists, cannot and should not be understated.
In this article part of a series reflecting on what has been a difficult year on numerous fronts for the cannabis industry, Business of Cannabis looks back on the details of France has battle for medical cannabis.
Benjamin-Alexandre Jeanroy of Paris-based Augur Associates told Business of Cannabis that while this represents a step towards fully-fledged generalisation, it is also "a significant step as it brings medical cannabis into general law".
“That is a huge victory in itself…While it’s still hard for patients, who still have to try every other treatment before being prescribed, it’s now part of the toolbox for doctors to prescribe and patients to access.”
He added that now that both chambers passed the PLFSS, there would be the capacity to start building a medical cannabis industry in France as pre-redacted ministerial decrees are expected to be published in the aftermath.
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