In France, experimentation with cannabis for therapeutic purposes is due to be approved at the end of June. But many questions remain.
On June 26, the ANSM (Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament) is due to validate the implementation of an experiment aimed at establishing a global framework for the use of therapeutic cannabis with certain patients, estimated at between 300,000 and one million.
The target audience is people suffering from cancer, certain forms of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, palliative care or pain refractory to accessible therapies. While the principle has been validated, a number of questions remain: which medical treatment modality? Which prescriber? Which distribution and dispensing circuit? What dosage? How should patients be monitored? How should it be administered? A number of questions that remain unanswered.
Two imperatives must be respected for these medical products: firstly, cultural control, and secondly, compliance with and compliance with European rules for the production of medicines of constant quality.
Beyond alleviating the suffering of those affected by disease, therapeutic cannabis could be the gateway to the legalization of cannabis for recreational use, as senators from France’s right-wing Les Républicains party expressed concern on May 28.
Jacob
