France extends medical cannabis experiment.
The medical cannabis experiment in France was supposed to end on July 1, 2025. Ultimately, however, it will be extended again by at least a year.
French patients have been waiting for over a decade for cannabis-based medicines. Back in 2013, during François Hollande's presidency, Health Minister Marisol Touraine issued a decree reinstating cannabis in the French pharmacopoeia. Despite this, changes have been very slow over the years. ANSM (Agence Nationale du médicament) established several temporary scientific committees that approved the limited experiment, which was extended several times over the years. However, the experiment has met resistance from the Ministry of the Interior and MILDECA (Inter-ministerial Mission to Combat Drugs and Addictive Tendencies), despite the positive results of the studies.
 At the end of 2024, the government called on 1,200 patients participating in the program to stop treatment before July 1, 2025. Finally, the Minister of Health and Access to Care, Yannick Neuder, announced to the Senate Committee on Social Affairs that the experiment with medical cannabis would be extended. Neuder emphasized that he had "made the necessary notifications so that the experiment could continue". The ministry is obliged to inform the European Commission of the implementing regulations for article 78 of the Financing of Social Security Act (LFSS) for 2024.
 The purpose of these regulations is to establish a temporary legal framework defining the medicines that will receive a 5-year temporary authorisation for use and the rules for their production. - There are no taboo topics for me on this issue. I intend to sign a new regulation that will extend the trial period for another year, so that no patient has an interruption in treatment and, above all, so that an industrial sector can be created". stressed Yannick Neuder. In addition, the Minister of Health plans to refer the matter to the French National Health Authority (HAS) to obtain an opinion on the effectiveness of medical marijuana and the possibility of its reimbursement by the health insurance system.
 "In the next few days, we will consult the HAS to issue an opinion on this subject," said Grégory Emery, director of the Directorate General for Health (DGS), during a conference organized by the Association of Journalists of Social Information (AJIS) on Thursday, March 13.
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