Agnès Buzyn does not oppose therapeutic cannabis cigarettes

The Minister of Health Health Agnès Buzyn said Tuesday that she does not rule out allowing therapeutic cannabis cigarettes if they bring "a plus" over previously authorized cannabis medications.

"There are drugs to cannabis is medical cannabis in the form of capsules, these drugs are allowed but they are in price negotiation. When the price is fixed, people will have access to these drugs, "she said on RMC . This is the case of Sativex. Already marketed in 17 European countries, this spray obtained in France its authorization to put on the market in 2014 for patients with multiple sclerosis. But since the state and the laboratory have never agreed on a price.

»READ ALSO – Medicines based on cannabis: Agnès Buzyn wants to revive research

But« others would like to go to the authorization to use the cannabis cigarette as medical marijuana and there, a number of researches are under way in different countries to know if it really brings more compared to the drugs in tablets "the minister said . A step she could take, if and only if, this research shows a benefit. "I said in Parliament, I am waiting for notes from my services to know what is the difference between cannabis tablets and cannabis cigarettes to know if we need to go further," said the minister, stating that She was not "talking about coffee shops."

"I have absolutely no settled doctrine on the subject. Either it is useful and we will do it, either the drugs in the form of tablets are enough and one will stop there ", she said.

Of the elected officials and the doctors favorable to the legalization

Agnès Buzyn undoubtedly reacted to the platform published Sunday in Le Parisien in which several elected PS, LREM, EELV and doctors have requested the legalization in France of cannabis for therapeutic use, which they say could alleviate the suffering of 300,000 patients . They further recall that 33 countries have partially or completely legalized cannabis for medical use.

These elected officials and doctors argue "the effectiveness of the product in the management of chronic pain, physical disorders caused by chemotherapy and muscle spasms related to multiple sclerosis ".

They also point out that more than 8 out of 10 French people today are in favor of the use of cannabis on prescription, according to a recent survey conducted by Ifop for Terra Nova and EchoCitoyen. A legalization that should do good to our economy, they argue. "The countries that have legislated and supervised the production of therapeutic cannabis are seeing the creation of direct and induced jobs, proof of the emergence of a promising economic sector," write these elected representatives and health professionals.

As a reminder, French law makes no distinction between the recreational and therapeutic use of cannabis whose consumption is penalized.