France Approves Funding For Two Years Of Medicinal Cannabis Research

France is one of the least progressive countries in Europe when it comes to cannabis policy. France is one of the few remaining countries in Europe that completely prohibits medical cannabis. However, that could be changing.

On Friday lawmakers in France voted to approve funding for a two-year medical cannabis research project. Per The Local:

Olivier Veran, a lawmaker from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party who proposed the budget inclusion, said the experiments could target some 3,000 sick people in France.

They will seek to determine whether cannabis derivatives can alleviate the symptoms of certain illnesses, and in which doses, he said.

Seventeen other European Union members have already authorised cannabis-based therapies, he added.

The list of health conditions that will reportedly be a part of the study will include epilepsy, chronic pain, cancer, and multiple sclerosis. The study will not involve inhaled-forms of cannabis. Rather, participants will consume cannabis-derived medical products via capsules and other oral dosing methods.

The medical cannabis experiments in France are certainly better than nothing, however, the study is limited in size compared to others that will be conducted on the European continent in the near future.

Earlier this month a medical cannabis study was announced in the UK which will involve 145,000 patients and will be narrowly focused on whether CBD is an effective treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

Still, the approval for medical cannabis research funding in France is significant and will hopefully lead to an increase in future research and help build momentum for medical cannabis reform in France.