Yesterday, the French Supreme Court handed down an important ruling on the marketing of CBD-based products. The long-awaited ruling invalidates the previous decision declaring the sale of hemp flowers illegal. CBD store owners are breathing a sigh of relief.
The ruling – one more camouflage for the government on the CBD issue – overturns the judgment of the Grenoble Court of Appeal, which had convicted the owner of the Foxseeds chain.
He had been prosecuted for drug offences. He was initially acquitted, before being tried again and found guilty by the Court of Appeal.
“CBD must be allowed to be marketed even if it is extracted from the whole plant, whereas French regulations only allow it to be marketed if it is extracted from fibers and seeds“, said the Cour de cassation in a statement that put a smile back on the face of more than one store owner specializing in the sale of hemp wellness.
“More stringent regulations can only be justified for the protection of public health“, it reminds us in the same statement,“and must not go beyond what is necessary to achieve this objective“.
On the other hand, the French Supreme Court made it clear that it had not ruled on the question of whether or not France could validly rely on this public health protection objective to prohibit the possession and marketing of CBD on its territory. This leaves the government with a last resort, should it wish to maintain the pressure it has been exerting on the French wellness sector up to now.
For its part, the Ministry of Justice has backed down and reviewed its hard-line anti-CBD stance: in a note issued by the Criminal Affairs and Pardons Directorate, public prosecutors are asked to stop prosecuting cases involving hemp flowers containing less than 0.2% THC.
Owners of stores selling CBD can (almost) rest easy.
