This is a decree than has been almost secretly published, but likely to please many militant associations and many patients suffering from cumbersome diseases. As a matter of fact the 2020-1230 decree – enabling the launch of medical cannabis tests in France – has been recently released in the Journal Officiel, after several delays.
According to the decree, the tests are to start “at the latest” on March 31, 2021, and focus on 3000 sick suffering from serious and painful pathologies: extreme epilepsy, cancers, sclerosis, incurable illnesses, and for which usual treatments gave nothing.
“3000 sicks are few, too few. We, patients, see it as a test before spreading it, and concerned pathologies and the number of recipients” Le Parisien is told by Marie-Madeleine Gilanton – head of Apaiser, an association uniting 500 people suffering from syringomyelia, and getting at least 3 emails per day asking how to get medical cannabis.
Now that the decree is published in the Journal Officiel, a series of decrees delimiting the terms and conditions cannabis can be prescribed and delivered is to be released. Furthermore, as no financing has been planned so far, MEPs have to quickly set the necessary budget to implement medical cannabis tests in France.
