French court definitively allows sale of CBD flowers and products

French court definitively allows sale of CBD flowers and products

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CBD flowers are again legal to sell in France after le Conseil d’Etat (the highest administrative court) lifted the previous ban, in a new decision that proponents say has “saved an entire industry”.

On December 29 this year, the court definitively dismissed the government’s decree from December 2021, which had banned the sale and consumption of flowers containing cannabidiol (CBD). 

CBD is the non-psychotropic molecule of the cannabis plant. 

Psychotropic cannabis contains the banned substance tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Only THC makes people ‘high’, while CBD is claimed to help people relax and reduce anxiety, with no ‘high’. CBD products must have less than 0.3% THC content.

After the December 2021 ban, the court was asked to weigh in on the issue urgently by professionals in the CBD sector. At the time, the court ‘temporarily’ suspended the ban. Now, 11 months later, it has upheld the suspension, making the sale legal once again. Its decision will likely be final.

The government argued for a ban, saying that allowing the flowers would make searching for genuine cannabis more difficult for law enforcement officers. This is because CBD flowers have a similar appearance and smell to their psychotropic counterparts.

Read more: France’s green party calls new CBD ban ‘absurd gift to drug dealers’ 

But the court disagreed with the government’s argument. 

It said: “It has not been established that the consumption of flowers and leaves of this variety…

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