As cannabis policy modernization efforts continue to gain momentum in Europe, and more European nations reform their outdated and harmful cannabis policies, one country that is on every cannabis advocate’s radar is France.
France is home to one of the largest cannabis consumer bases on earth. With a total population of roughly 68 million people, an estimated 10.6% of French adults reported having consumed cannabis within the last year according to a 2022 survey conducted by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies in partnership with the Santé Publique France agency.
Applying the estimated cannabis usage rate to France’s adult population works out to potentially millions of adult cannabis consumers for an eventual legal adult-use market in France. Of course, many of the adults who report consuming cannabis in France are doing so for medical reasons and the market potential for an effective medical cannabis program in France is also huge.
In March 2021, France launched a limited medical cannabis experiment involving between 2,000 and 3,000 suffering patients to gain insight into possibly crafting national medical cannabis policies and regulations.
The French medical cannabis experiment received initial approval from the federal Senate back in 2019, however, the launch of the trial was delayed until the spring of 2021 due to various reasons. Cannabis producer LaFleur was eventually selected as the cultivator for the program and has supplied participating patients since the experiment’s launch.
Initially slated for two years, France’s medical cannabis experiment was eventually granted a one-year extension and was set to end in 2024. The program is now expected to end in 2025.
A national medical cannabis program was initially expected to launch in France in 2025, although, 2026 appears to be a more realistic timeline for the program’s launch. Meanwhile, adult-use cannabis reform is likely to occur further into the future in France. With that being said, cannabis activists in the country are doing everything they can to speed up both timelines.
Currently, cannabis is legal at a national level for adult use in three European countries – Malta, Luxembourg, and Germany. Additionally, regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot trials are currently operating in the Netherlands and Switzerland, affording enrolled consumers a legal way to source their products.
Further delays in cannabis policy modernization in France come with an opportunity cost. If France institutes a regulated industry it could easily become a continental and international powerhouse.
Conversely, if lawmakers in France continue to drag their feet, the nation’s market potential will decrease with every passing year. Surrounding nations will gain a larger market share and their domestic cannabis companies will create advantages that will be hard for France-based companies to compete with.
To be clear, large numbers of cannabis consumers and patients consume cannabis every day in France, albeit illegally. French lawmakers would be wise to recognize this fact and work to transition the market from an unregulated one to a regulated one which would, among other things, boost positive public health outcomes.
The situation is fluid in France and it can be difficult for cannabis enthusiasts to navigate. A great opportunity to learn the latest and most important information about France’s shifting cannabis landscape is coming up next month in France at the Science in the City International event in Bordeaux on October 26th, 2024.
Science in the City International is a unique opportunity for international industry stakeholders, medical healthcare professionals, functional and integrative medicine practitioners, and community healthcare changemakers and leaders to come together for a historic event. It’s a great opportunity to learn and network with other like-minded people.
This article first appeared on Internationalcbc.com and is syndicated here with special permission.
Photo by Nico Miot on Unsplash
