France is currently working toward the eventual launch of its official medical cannabis program, and a new update from the French National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) recently announced that access to cannabis flower is not currently included.

France’s medical cannabis experiment began in August 2021, and 2024 is set to be the last year of the experiment, while patients will only be accepted if they applied prior to March 26, 2024. The official launch of the country’s medical cannabis program is set to occur sometime in 2025.

ANSM published an update on Feb. 20, explaining that with an end date for patient applications, there will be an end to access of cannabis flower as well. “Medicines in the form of flowers (flowering tops to be inhaled) will cease to be made available in the coming weeks,” ANSM stated. “Prescribing doctors must therefore gradually stop flower treatment for their patients and not initiate new treatments with this form. Guidelines have been distributed to healthcare professionals.”

After March 26, the program will enter a transition period until the official launch of the French medical cannabis program occurs in 2025.

For now, ANSM is recommending that healthcare professionals “implement the gradual cessation of flower treatments” for their patients, and not “initiate new flower treatments.” Likewise, ANSM is recommending that patients who utilize cannabis flower to seek out assistance from their medical practitioners to adjust their treatment accordingly.

ANSM stated that over the course of the last three years, a total of 3,035 people have participated in the experiment, and 1,842 participants are currently being treated. “The data collected during the first two years of the experiment were evaluated by various studies,” ANSM explained. “They show the effectiveness of medical cannabis in all indications of the experiment, maintained over several months in certain patients, as well as a secure and operational prescription and delivery circuit.”

Aurora Cannabis is the only company approved by ANSM to supply cannabis flower for the program, which first began in August 2021. “The first prescriptions of dried medical cannabis as part of the French pilot program are a significant step toward providing access to patients and will support the destigmatization of medical cannabis in France,” Aurora Cannabis CEO Miguel Marin said at the time. Aurora supplied three different types of flower: one high-THC flower, one balanced THC/CBD flower, and one high-CBD flower.

On December 26, 2023, the French social security financing law was passed. It established that ANSM would authorize medical cannabis use for five years, meaning that patients will be allowed to continue their medical cannabis prescriptions going forward (minus the access to flower).

The decision to end supply of medical cannabis has been met with opposition. According to Business of Cannabis, Dr. Nicholas Authier was involved with the medical cannabis experiment program, and condemns the sudden change. “What surprises us as doctors is the brutality of the decision,” Authier said. “We thought we would have time to gradually stop therapy. Stopping a treatment taken for several years cannot be done over two weeks, but over several months. This could have a significant impact on the pain felt by patients.”

Currently, it is unclear if medical cannabis flower will be brought back after the program officially launches in 2025. According to the French government, it “is explained by the wish of the manufacturer [Aurora Cannabis] not to continue the supply of products.” All flower provided by Aurora Cannabis during the pilot program was free, so it makes sense that the company would want to cease providing free flower now that the experiment is ending.

While France continues to work out its anticipated medical cannabis program, the German parliament recently legalized adult-use cannabis. As of April 1, the law allows anyone over 18 to possess cannabis in public up to 25 grams, or up to 50 grams at home.

After July 1, cannabis social clubs will be available only to German consumers, and each club can serve up to 500 members. The clubs will be allowed to grow and distribute cannabis to its members, but currently the clubs are the only source of access for consumers. There are not licensed shops or pharmacies that consumers will be able to purchase cannabis from. However, adults are permitted to grow up to three cannabis plants per household.

Germany is now the third European country to legalize adult-use cannabis. The first was Malta, which legalized both use and possession in December 2021, followed by Luxembourg in June 2023.

Cannabis brands in the U.S. have invested interest in expanding into Europe as cannabis becomes legalized. Recently, U.S.-based edibles company, Wana Brands announced a partnership with Alpen Group, which is a vertically integrated company based in Switzerland. “Since Wana Brands was established in Colorado’s budding market in 2010, our mission has been to pioneer our presence in emerging markets. This vision has now taken us across the Atlantic to Switzerland, marking 14 years of expansive growth. Our collaboration with Alpen Group, a company that mirrors our commitment to quality, positions us to become the pioneering American cannabis edibles brand in the European Union’s adult-use market,” said co-founder and CEO of Wana Brands, Nancy Whiteman.

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Aurora Cannabis officially shipped out its first shipment of “free” dried cannabis flower to be given to a select number of patients in France.

A subsidiary of Aurora Cannabis Inc., Aurora Germany GmbH, partnered with Ethypharm to deliver the first shipment of cannabis medicine to France to be used in the country’s medical cannabis pilot program. Both Aurora and Ethypharm were chosen by the National Agency for Safety Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) to deliver dried flower for use by French patients.

Both companies signed an agreement to work with the ANSM in October 2020. In the agreement, Aurora confirmed it would deliver medical cannabis from the company’s largest European facility, Aurora Nordic. Ethypharm is in charge of distribution of the dried flower throughout France. According to the program, companies will participate knowing that the product they send would be “free of charge.”

According to Aurora’s Chief Executive Officer, Miguel Martin, this is a great honor for the company. “The first prescriptions of dried medical cannabis as part of the French pilot program are a significant step toward providing access to patients and will support the destigmatization of medical cannabis in France,” Martin said in a press statement.

The statement continued, “This accomplishment is another example of Aurora’s leadership in global cannabis, with a proven track record of supporting the advancement of international medical cannabis markets alongside government bodies. By demonstrating a deep commitment to compliance and focus on product quality, we won three of the nine available tenders. If successful, this pilot program could lead to one of the largest regulated medical cannabis markets in Europe.”

Ethypharm’s Chief Commercial Operations Officer, Jean Monin, declared his honor in the company being chosen to assist French medical cannabis patients. “Combining our pharmaceutical skills is, in our view, the right approach to build trust and confidence in medical cannabis for the long term in France,” said Monin. “We want to be a driving force to support patients suffering from chronic pain when there is no other therapeutic option than medical cannabis. With our deep expertise in disorders of the central nervous system and an expertise in highly regulated medicines, we are well prepared to collaborate with the health authorities and physicians.”

There are three types of dried flower being shipped to France currently: Aurora 20/1 XPE (high-THC), Aurora 8/8 XPE (balanced amount of THC and CBD) and Aurora 1/12 XPE (high-CBD). The flower will be consumed using a vaporizer from STORZ & BICKEL.

When the French government announced this effort on October 7, 2020, it referred to the program as an “experiment.” The initial decree noted that the program would last for “a period of two years from the prescription to the first patient and no later than March 31, 2021,” and will serve up to 3,000 patients.

Nadine Attal, a pain specialist who works at the Ambroise-Paré hospital in Paris, France and is one of the committee members who will oversee the experiment. “There is a group of patients who respond very, very, very well to this product, particularly those who have chronic pain that is resistant to everything else,” she told Radio France Internationale in an interview.

Attal also mentioned that this effort isn’t a scientific trial and there won’t be a placebo given to some patients. Rather, this is a way for researchers to analyze the “real-life use” of cannabis as a medicine. “We will learn more about the kinds of patients who respond, and we’ll be able to identify side effects, like vertigo, drowsiness, fatigue,” she described.

Aurora Cannabis is one of six companies participating in France’s medical cannabis program. This includes Australian companies Althea and Little Green Pharma, Canadian company Tilray, Israel-based Panaxia and Emmac Life Sciences from the UK. The participating companies are all foreign because cannabis flower that contains THC over 0.2 percent is illegal in France.

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