Paris (AFP)
The National Assembly gave Friday the go-ahead for an experiment in the medical use of cannabis, as part of the review of the Draft Social Security Budget for 2020.
The deputies voted by show of hands an amendment of the rapporteur Olivier Veran (LREM) which authorizes for two years such an experiment, to which the agency of the drug (ANSM) had already given its approval.
"I very much hope that this experiment can begin in the first half of 2020," said Secretary of State Christelle Dubos.
"It will cover 3,000 patients in France and will try to test the positive impact of cannabis derivatives on certain diseases," said Véran, recalling that "17 countries of the European Union have already authorized treatments based medical cannabis ".
"It's absolutely not the martingale, it's not the grail of the painkiller, it's not about developing a new drug that would replace paracetamol or another analgesic but to find a way to a new adjuvant treatment, "said the member for Isère.
This experiment will involve people suffering from serious diseases - some forms of epilepsy, neuropathic pain, side effects of chemotherapy, palliative care or uncontrolled muscular contractions of multiple sclerosis - for which cannabis derivatives may constitute a therapeutic contribution additional.
It will be conducted in several hospitals, particularly reference centers for the pathologies concerned. An initial hospital prescription will be made by a specialist doctor, neurologist or pain doctor in particular.
Patients will first have to provide themselves in hospital pharmacy and then will be able to renew their treatments in town pharmacies.
The agency of the drug decided in favor of rather wide administration modalities: the treatment could thus take the form of dried flowers, oils and possibly herbal teas.
The different dosages may incorporate very variable relationships between the two active ingredients: tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) with psychoactive effects, and cannabidiol (CBD) which leads rather to muscle relaxation.
The measure was welcomed in the hemicycle. "We must ignore the criticisms that are made around this proposal since a group of experts had validated the principle of" experimentation, said the MP LR Jean-Pierre Door.
"However this raises the question of the supply chain, France does not allow the production of cannabis," said the communist Pierre Dharreville.
© 2019 AFP