France 24 experiences
The French Nationwide Company for the Security of Medicines and Well being Merchandise (ANSM) has till the top of the 12 months to authorize hashish merchandise authorised for medicinal use. These merchandise will then be granted a brief approval for 5 years – with the goal for them to be renewed indefinitely – pending a choice by the European authorities to market the drug.
Till then, sufferers who had been a part of the trial will proceed to have entry to cannabis-based medicines. However from Wednesday, March 27, no new members can be part of the take a look at.
A complete of three,035 individuals participated within the unprecedented experiment and 1,842 are nonetheless receiving therapy in the present day.
An unprecedented experiment
Earlier than the take a look at was launched for the primary time in 275 well being amenities within the nation, a committee of interdisciplinary scientists – consisting primarily of well being professionals and sufferers – was created. Collectively, they outlined the situations below which the experiment can be launched, which medicines can be used, the coaching pharmacists and medical doctors would obtain, how the sufferers can be monitored and the knowledge they’d obtain.
Well being authorities then permit restricted prescriptions for individuals affected by 5 particular situations: neuropathic ache, some types of drug-resistant epilepsy, intense oncological signs associated to most cancers or most cancers therapy, palliative conditions and pathologies affecting the nervous system, resembling a number of sclerosis.
Sufferers had been solely prescribed cannabis-based medicines if the accessible therapy was discovered to be inadequate, or if that they had an aversion to present medicine.
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Based mostly on the 5 medical situations that justify such a therapy, Authier estimates that between 150,000 and 300,000 individuals in France could possibly be prescribed cannabis-based medicines, which signifies that a complete trade has been holding its breath for the roll -out of medication.
Whereas the suppliers of the cannabis-based medicines used within the take a look at years had been Israeli, Australian and German firms – these in control of distribution had been French.
Together with Germany, France might turn into the most important medical hashish market in Europe, in response to French every day Le Monde.
However regardless of the promise of a rising market, the introduction of those medicine to the French market and even the soil take a look at has been nothing however a mattress of roses.
The dangerous restoration of hashish in France
A couple of days in the past, whereas attending a Senate hearing On the influence of drug trafficking in France, the Minister of Finance Bruno le Maire reiterated his place that the decriminalization of hashish was not.
“Hashish is gorgeous and cocaine is stylish. That is the social illustration of the drug,” he stated. “However in actuality, each are poisons. They’re each harmful and contribute to undermining French society as a complete.
Regardless of France being one of many largest shoppers of hashish in Europe, it additionally has a number of the hardest legal guidelines towards the drug. THC continues to be categorised as a narcotic in France, with the utmost stage allowed in any hashish plant restricted to 0.3 p.c. CBD is authorized so long as the hashish plant doesn’t exceed the permitted ranges of THC.
There may be nonetheless a number of stigma round hashish in France, though public opinion on its medical use may be very encouraging. Based on a 2019 ballot by the Nationwide Observatory of Medication and Addictive Tendencies, 91 p.c of French individuals say they’re in favor of medical doctors prescribing cannabis-based medicine “for sure severe or continual illnesses.”
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https://www.france24.com/fr/europe/20240330-la-cannabis-medicale-potrebbe-presto-ottenere-luce-verde-in-france-pupu-un-prova-senza-precedenti
