Tobacconists "ready" to sell regulated cannabis

Tobacco farmers are "ready to market" cannabis in case of legalization and even demand "exclusivity" of its distribution to offset a decline in cigarette sales, said the president of the Confederation of tobacconists in an interview at Parisien .

"Becoming the first cannabis reference network". "We are in favor of recreational cannabis if it is regulated and we are ready to market it in our tobacco shops," said Philippe Coy, president of the Confederation of tobacconists, in an interview published Saturday. "On June 18, I even proposed to the Minister of Health to go further and become the first cannabis reference network if it is, one day, legalized in France," says the tobacconist.

This statement comes as "coffee shops" selling products based on cannabidiol (CBD) have spread in France and some of their managers have been indicted, including for "transport, holding, offer or badignment, acquisition or use of narcotics "

" Cigarette sales are expected to decline. " French coffee shops benefit from a legal uncertainty that allows CBD since the content of THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), a component of cannabis with a psychotropic effect, does not exceed 0.2%. "If the CBD and more broadly cannabis are allowed, we want to be present in this market, we even want exclusivity.We are in a transformation plan because the sales of cigarettes are expected to fall. opportunities ", Philippe Coy develops.

In 2017, sales of cigarettes in France fell by 1.48% in volume, according to a report prepared by Logista France, supplier of almost all tobacconists, a year after entry into force of the neutral package.