Business of Cannabis reports
💊 accès aux médicaments à base de cannabinoïdes (“cannabis médical”) : écoutez les engagements du ministre de la santé @aur_rousseau suite à une question de la députée @CarolineJanvier devant la commission des affaires sociales de l’@AssembleeNat le 11/10/23 🏛️ #douleur #cancer pic.twitter.com/kAQyh05CpR
— Nicolas Authier (@NicolasAuthier_) October 12, 2023
France’s Minister for Health, Aurélien Rousseau, has confirmed that the country’s medical cannabis experiment will continue, providing some solace for its 2,540 patients.
Despite pressure from cross-party parliamentarians, elected officials, scientists and doctors, Mr Rousseau refused to commit to rolling medical cannabis out generally across France this year.
The minister suggested that the lack of commitment to a fully fledged medical cannabis programme was due to a lack of ‘European marketing authorisation’, which he suggested could be ready by 2025.
Industry stakeholders and medical cannabis advocates have been quick to point out that 17 members of the EU, alongside Switzerland and the UK, have now legalised medical cannabis.
What happened?
Last week (October 11), during the Social Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, Mr Rousseau was questioned on the topic directly by the assembly secretary.
It came just weeks after the government published its Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) for 2024, which determines the state’s budgetary allocations for the coming year.
While the industry had hoped that the PLFSS would allocate a budget for the ongoing medical cannabis experiment and indicate that a generalised roll-out was on the horizon, any reference to medical cannabis was entirely absent from the document.
The PLFSS is now being considered by parliamentarians, who will pick apart its contents and vote on amendments before it is enacted.
Responding to questions from Social Affairs Committee deputies Caroline Janvier (Renaissance) and Karen Erodi (LFI), Mr Rousseau confirmed that the experiment had produced ‘clinical feedback showing a benefit for the patient’.
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