Track and field phenomenon Sha’Carri Richardson on Saturday qualified for the 2024 Olympics, three years after the star sprinter was disqualified from the U.S. team because of a positive drug test for THC metabolites. Richardson’s win in a qualifying event sets the stage for her to run in this year’s Summer Olympic Games, which kick off in Paris on July 26.

Richardson took the top spot in the 100-meter sprint at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon, winning the race with this year’s world-leading time of 10.71 seconds. After a sluggish start in the race, Richardson passed the other runners at the 60-meter mark and retained her lead to the finish line to secure her spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team.

“This time around, I feel as if it was more — definitely still confident, still my exciting, normal self, but more so the overwhelming feeling of joy,” Richardson said following the race.

Richardson’s training partners Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha “Tee Tee” Terry rounded out the top three finishers in Saturday’s 100-meter race, with Jefferson running a personal best time of 10.80 seconds and Terry taking third with a time of 10.98. All three sprinters qualified for the 2024 Olympics with their performances at the meet and the trio will head to Paris next month to compete for the U.S. team.

“It definitely confirmed the year we’ve been training for. We’ve been preparing for this moment, it’s a full circle moment,” Richardson said about the three teammates, USA Today reported. “We’re grateful and appreciative and I’m super excited to grow and build from this momentum that we’ve already established. It’s more than exciting to continue to go forward with my girls. We didn’t put the world on notice, the world already knew. …We knew this moment could be possible if we put our minds, body and spirit into it.”

Last Chance at Olympic Gold Thwarted By Positive Drug Test

Richardson was disqualified from the U.S. Olympic team for the 2020 Games, which were postponed to the following year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. She had secured a spot on the team for the 100-meter event at the Olympic trials in 2021, but Richardson agreed to a 30-day suspension after testing positive for weed in a test taken at the qualifying meet. With the suspension running through the 100-meter Olympic race, Richardson was dropped from the team and denied the chance to race at the Tokyo Games.

“In the past three years, I’ve grown just a better understanding of myself,” she said in a post-race press conference, according to a report from The Athletic. “A deeper respect and appreciation for my gift that I have in the sport and as well as my responsibility to the people that believe in and support me. I feel like all of those components have helped me grow and will continue to help me grow into the young lady that I have been divined and by God (have) been blessed to be.”

“It manifests,” she added, “in having a deeper love and a deeper care for the talent I have been given. And I take advantage of it. Nurturing it. Taking care of my body. Take care of my mind as well as my spirit.”

Richardson heads to Paris at a time of peak career performance. She took a gold medal in the 2023 World Track and Field Championships and led against a strong slate of international competition at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon last month. With her win at the Olympic qualifying event on Saturday, Richardson is the early favorite to take gold in the 100-meter sprint at the Paris games next month.

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Medical cannabis is taking over Europe, as well as efforts to decriminalize cannabis in numerous countries and at local levels. In a pattern similar to what took place in the U.S., European nations are legalizing cannabis for medical or recreational purposes in a patchwork of new laws.

According to a May 16 press release from Victoria, Australia-based Biortica Agrimed, 21 out of 27 member states of the European Union (EU) legalized medical cannabis.

“The EU situation with respect to legalisation can best be described as fluid, but evolving positively,“ said Tom Varga, CEO of Biortica Agrimed. Biortica Agrimed is a vertically-integrated B2B company  preparing to list on the Australian Securities Exchange with an IPO.

The 27 EU countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Out of those, 21 countries—Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain—implemented laws to allow for the medical use of cannabis.

Out of those countries, the potential market in Germany is among the most exciting and where investors are circling the most at the current moment.

“Whilst EU law prohibits the commercial sale of cannabis, many countries are taking a more mature approach, and legalising, initially medicinal, and ultimately personal use, with Germany in the lead. 21 out of the 27 EU member states have legalised use of medicinal cannabis,” he said, “and 13 countries have either legalised or decriminalised its personal use.”

Countries like Spain have decriminalized cannabis, while Georgia, Germany, Luxembourg, and Malta have taken steps to legalize adult-use. Countries like Portugal have gone even further by decriminalizing all drugs. Dozens more cities in the EU decriminalized cannabis at the city level.

Part of the purpose of Biortica Agrimed’s report is to support the argument that it’s due time Australia takes note of the potential Down Under. Australia legalized medical marijuana in 2016. According to Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) data, the number of patient approvals for medical cannabis increased sharply. In Australia, doctors can prescribe medicinal cannabis with the approval from the TGA and the relevant State or Territory’s Health Department.

“The EU comprises world class nations, and Australia should take any learnings that we can from the EU.” he said, “We have the benefit, and indeed the privilege, to view how legislative frameworks have been built over-seas, what’s worked and working, and what the Australian industry and legislators should avoid. Australia really can do better.”

“We look forward to continuing to share our global industry research with the Australian industry, our legislators and regulators, to build an industry that we can all be proud of, an industry that puts patient care, safety and outcomes to the fore, ” said Varga.

Cannabis Prevalence in Europe

Cannabis remains the most popular substance used in Europe according to the most recent counts by European data monitors.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s (EMCDDA) report, entitled “Cannabis—the current situation in Europe (European Drug Report 2023),” describes cannabis as “by far the most commonly consumed illicit drug in Europe.”

The report cites national surveys which show that 8% of European adults (out of approximately 22.6 million people between 15 and 64 years of age) have used cannabis within the last year. An estimated 1.3% of adults (approximately 3.7 million people) are described as “daily” or “almost daily” consumers.

With the popularity of cannabis continuing to grow, the report notes that this often leads to consumer “problems.” “There remains, however, a need to understand better the kinds of problems experienced by cannabis users, as well as the referral pathways and treatment options available for those with cannabis-related problems,” the report stated.

Germany’s legislation to legalize cannabis took effect on April 1. German lawmakers gave final approval to a recreational weed legalization plan known as CanG recently, making the country the largest in Europe to take the step.

In the German capital of Berlin, cannabis smokers gathered at the iconic Brandenberg Gate to smoke weed and celebrate their new freedoms. Other events were held throughout Europe’s most populous country, including one in front of the Cologne cathedral and others in the cities of Hamburg, Regensburg, and Dortmund.

The patchwork of laws unfolding in the EU show how medical and adult-use cannabis are popular on a global scale, and what Australia could learn from European countries.

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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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An Israeli national has been reported dead at the Tokyo Airport as the result of an overdose after authorities said he tried to smuggle over a kilogram of cocaine and other stimulants in his stomach.

According to an article in the Mainichi, a national daily newspaper in Japan, authorities with the Metropolitan Police Department filed charges with public prosecutors Wednesday, accusing a suspect in his 50’s, who was not named in the article, of violating the Stimulants Control Act by swallowing multiple wraps of illegal stimulants and getting on a flight from France to Japan with the intent of bringing the drugs into the country for distribution and sale. 

The Mainichi said the deceased man collapsed inside the plane on January 2 as it arrived at the Tokyo Haneda Airport From France. He was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead. 

The suspect reportedly had 89 individual packets or wraps of cocaine and other stimulants. Medical staff told the Mainichi that none of the wraps burst, so it was unclear how the suspect succumbed to drug poisoning, but authorities with the Metropolitan Police Department’s narcotics and firearms control division surmised the drugs must have seeped out of the wraps somehow. 

The process of smuggling drugs this way is referred to as “body packing.” A study on this practice by the National Institute of Health defined body packing as “the way of psychoactive substances smuggling by swallowing of carefully prepared packages with drugs into the gastrointestinal tract or by insertion them into the vagina or the rectum, especially in order to avoid finding them by the custom service.”

During the study, researchers administered 60 wraps of cocaine totalling 500 grams to an otherwise healthy 29-year-old Polish male to monitor and observe how his body would react to the introduction of so many foreign objects.

“During the 37-hours stay in our department the patient was monitored (blood pressure, heart rate, temperature), laxatives and oral fluids were administered. All the packages were evacuated through the natural way and it was followed up by the control abdominal radiography. No symptoms of acute cocaine intoxication or any other complications were observed,” the study said.

Now you might be wondering, as I was while writing this, how exactly a person might go about smuggling drugs inside their body without ending up dead, as this man did. Well, some light internet digging netted me a few answers.

A Vice profile on a Dutch cocaine smuggler illustrated how easy some believe this process to be. The girl, who was given the moniker Sharon, told Vice she began smuggling drugs from the small Caribbean island of Curacao to the Netherlands because of how common and easy it was in the area.

“A lot of people would ask you to smuggle for them if they knew you were Dutch. But I always told them that I wouldn’t. Well, until I ran into a friend I knew from back home,” Sharon said to Vice. “She asked me if I would smuggle some stuff for her and I decided to do it. Everybody did it back then. Every flight would have at least ten or 20 people with drugs on it. Even little old grandmas were selling drugs in Curacao.”

Packing the drugs is very important, as evidenced by the case at the Tokyo Airport, because if the packaging breaks it can cause overdose and death extremely quickly. Sharon told Vice that in her case, the cocaine was packed in plastic, wrapped in a latex glove then taped shut with a particular kind of packaging tape. Afterwards, additional layers of plastic and latex were added. 

“It was really well packaged,” Sharon told Vice. “Some people had a hard time getting it down, though. They’d practice with a piece of carrot or something like that.” 

Sharon also attested that she had a friend die at the age of 19 from a packaging burst. The kicker is Sharon was under the impression that she never took this risk, because she only ever swallowed boiled cocaine. I was unable to confirm if there was any accuracy to this information. 

 “That was pure coke, though. I only swallowed boiled coke, which won’t kill you. Or, at least, that’s what they told me,” Sharon said to Vice. “I’ve seen a lot of drug mules get dropped off at A&E [the emergency room], actually.”

The test for whether packaging would hold up on its journey from esophagus to toilet bowl was simple, according to Sharon. She would simply drop it into a cup of water and if it sank to the bottom, it required repackaging. If it floated, down the hatch.

“It’s not that complicated,” Sharon told Vice.

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Joining the team of NBCUniversal, Snoop Dogg is on deck to cover the Olympic Games Paris 2024 this summer. Snoop will relocate to Paris to provide regular reports for the Olympic Primetime Show, which is scheduled to begin on July 26 on NBC and Peacock. 

According to a Dec. 31 announcement, Snoop is scheduled to join NBC Olympics host Mike Tirico and provide American primetime viewers with his own unique spin on the Olympics in Paris. He’s scheduled to do rounds of the city’s notable landmarks, attend Olympic competitions and events, and visit with the athletes, their friends, and families.

“I grew up watching the Olympics and am thrilled to see the incredible athletes bring their A-game to Paris. It’s a celebration of skill, dedication, and the pursuit of greatness,” said Snoop Dogg. “We’re going to have some amazing competitions and, of course, I will be bringing that Snoop style to the mix. It’s going to be the most epic Olympics ever, so stay tuned, and keep it locked. Let’s elevate, celebrate, and make these games unforgettable, smoke the competition, and may the best shine like gold. Peace and Olympic LOVE, ya dig?” 

His upcoming role as an Olympic announcer was first announced on New Year’s Eve during halftime of Sunday Night Football’s coverage of the Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings on NBC and Peacock.

Snoop joined Kevin Hart to cover the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, however the COVID pandemic put a major damper in the game activities, and Snoop’s coverage was a small highlight amid a notably quiet Olympics year. Now with the pandemic out of the way, he’s doing it again.

“Snoop is already an Olympic gold medal commentator, generating tens of millions of views for his highlights commentary on Peacock of the dressage competition during the Tokyo Olympics,” said Molly Solomon, Executive Producer and President, NBC Olympics Production. “That performance alone has earned Snoop a job as our Special Correspondent in Paris. We don’t know what the heck is going to happen every day, but we know he will add his unique perspective to our re-imagined Olympic primetime show.”

Snoop as a narrator came front-and-center several years ago when programmers ingeniously cast him as the narrator for Planet Earth and Planet Earth II, aka Plizzanet Earth. It was a big hit.

On New Year’s Eve, during halftime of Sunday Night Football, Snoop starred in a “Snoop Year’s Eve” promotional video for the Paris Olympics. In a 75-second video, Snoop jokes with Team USA athletes Suni Lee (gymnastics), A’ja Wilson (basketball), Jagger Eaton (skateboarder), and duo Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes (beach volleyball) about their past wins and defeats in the Olympics. The content was shot last November at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California as part of NBCUniversal’s promotional shoot for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Olympics in Paris Plan a Few New Things

Scheduled for Paris this summer, the world’s greatest athletes will go head-to-head in Paris where the modern Olympic Games (as opposed to the Ancient Roman Olympics) were conceived 130 years ago. This will be the third time Paris has hosted the Olympics—the last times being 1900 and 1924—tying London for the city with the most years as a Summer Games host. Los Angeles (1932, 1984) will tie those two cities when it hosts the first Summer Games in the U.S. in 32 years in 2028.

The organizers of Paris 2024 plan to do a few new things this year to make them more accessible to the public and to showcase the city: First, competitions will be held adjacent to iconic landmarks in Paris, for instance with beach volleyball near the Eiffel Tower, equestrian at the Palace of Versailles, and urban sports at Place de la Concorde. Organizers think this will make the games more attractive to people from different walks of life.

Last May, NBCUniversal announced that the NBC broadcast network and streaming service Peacock will be the company’s primary platforms for its coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, which is scheduled for July 26-Aug. 11. Click on the NBCUniversal website for more programming information and here for information about the Paralympics, which will take place Aug. 28 – Sept. 8.

NBCU owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2032, which are scheduled for Paris (2024), Milan Cortina (2026), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032). The host city for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games has not yet been chosen.

This year, with the addition of Snoop Dogg and notable Parisian landmarks, Olympics organizers hope to bump up the ratings.

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In Ridley Scott’s historical epic Napoleon, the titular French conqueror, played by Joaquin Phoenix, marches into the deserts of Egypt and orders his soldiers to aim their cannons at the pyramids. The whole scene is a fabrication – one Scott, who directed the equally sensational Gladiator, also starring Phoenix, has already been called out by historians. But even if Napoleon Bonaparte did damage these world wonders, this wouldn’t have been the strangest thing to happen during his excursion into Asia Minor.

The imperial French army invaded Egypt in 1798 after capturing the Mediterranean port of Malta with two purposes: to break up trade routes between India and England, and to establish French rule in the Middle East. Ultimately, Napoleon’s biggest obstacle wasn’t the Egyptians themselves, but their love of hashish – a love that spread to his own soldiers, and which he eventually resolved to ban, thus laying the foundation for Western Europe’s approach to cannabis. 

Rather than forcing their own customs onto the Egyptians, Napoleon urged his administrators to embrace the local culture. French forces, including scholars and scientists, established libraries and research centers to nourish their genuine interest in the many traditions and inventions of the Islamic world. Lacking access to their French wines and liquors, they also learned about hashish, and soon began frequenting the cafés, markets, and lounges where the substance was typically found. 

Legend has it that Napoleon issued a ban on hashish because his soldiers were too stoned to fight, but this is as much of a misconception as Ridley’s film. In truth, hash did not become illegal until after the campaign had come to an end; the ban itself wasn’t implemented by Napoleon, but one of his generals; and its goal wasn’t to protect French citizens against the drug’s “corroding influence,” but exert control over Egypt and Syria by pitting its own citizens against each other.

As Ryan Stoa explains in his article A Brief Global History of the War on Cannabis, written for The MIT Press Reader, hashish in Egypt was “associated with Sufi mystics and looked down upon by the Sunni elite.” The general Napoleon left in charge of Egypt, Jacques-François Menou, saw the hashish ban as an opportunity to kill “two birds with one stone.” In addition to improving a perceived public health problem, the general, married to a Sunni elite, also hoped to earn the respect of his in-laws. 

Issued in 1800, Menou’s mandate is often considered the first drug prohibition law of the modern world. It’s also one of the most uncompromising, prohibiting the cultivation, sale, and consumption of cannabis in one fell swoop. Egyptians weren’t allowed to smoke cannabis itself, nor were they allowed to mix it into their liquor. “Those who are accustomed to drinking this liquor and smoking this seed,” the mandate read, “lose reason and fall into a violent delirium, which often leads them to commit excesses of all kinds.”

The ban, like many other idealistic goals pursued by Napoleon’s administration, didn’t work out. According to Stoa, hashish continued to be grown, traded, and used across Egypt – a practice that, if archeological finds can be believed, dates back as far as 3000 BC. Not only did French soldiers fail to prevent Egyptians from smoking hash, but they also ended up introducing the substance to Western Europe, not unlike some of the American veterans returning from Vietnam. 

The French were no more successful at banning cannabis at home than abroad. In Paris, the open-minded writers and painters that made up the Romantic movement, which rejected the cold-blooded rationality of the Enlightenment in favor of emotion and spirituality, tolerated and at times celebrated the drug that their government was trying to eradicate. They proudly referred to their intellectual circle as the Club des Hachichins, the “Hash-Eaters’ Club” in English. 

Despite pressure from their own government, the Egyptian city of Cairo blossomed into one of the biggest hash markets in the world. Rivaled only by Istanbul, in Turkey, Cairo’s cannabis industry survived well into the late 1800s, when a compounding list of prohibitions, penalties, and crackdowns caused its organizers to search for a new base of operation. Migrating along the coast of Northern Africa, they eventually settled in Morocco, where they remain to this day. 

Hash wasn’t the only cannabis product that played an unlikely role in the Napoleonic Wars, however. Even more important was the hemp plant itself, which could be transformed into bags, rope, cordage, sails, and other materials that are tantamount to waging a successful war. Flourishing trade between England and Russia, Europe’s top hemp producers, was a major concern for Napoleon as he marched his forces into the Russian heartland on their way to Moscow. 

Just as the French Emperor had sought to regulate the consumption of hash, so too did he attempt to gain control over the production of hemp. In the so-called Peace Treaty of Tilsit, signed in 1807, before France’s invasion of Russia, Napoleon actually demanded that Russia’s Czar, Alexander I, cease to do business with Great Britain. No business with Britain meant less hemp, less hemp meant a weaker army, a weaker army meant a greater chance at victory. 

Maybe, if the Czar had accepted these terms, Napoleon would have made it to Moscow after all. 

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While world-renowned hashmaker Frenchy Cannoli may have been a true cannabis evangelist, educating the masses on how to make high quality hash, unfortunately, the country he hailed from, France, has very different views of cannabis. Seeing how restrictive French laws on cannabis have been until very recently, it is no wonder that Frenchy left his home for greener pastures and greener buds in other countries. Read on to learn the basics of cannabis in France before your next visit to Paris.

Drug Trafficking

Before getting into French cannabis laws, a word on drug trafficking. In France, like most countries, a person bringing drugs into the country on a plane can be charged with drug trafficking. A law that went into effect in 2020 was a small step towards decriminalizing cannabis possession, so long as it is less than 50 grams (roughly two ounces), there is a chance to pay a fine and avoid jail time, but it is still a criminal offense.

Nascent Medical Cannabis Industry

France began their experiments with medical cannabis in 2021, with a two-year pilot study of 3,000 patients. Given the success of their ongoing pilot study, it is no surprise that on March 1st, 2022, the French government issued a decree legalizing medical cannabis. Specifically, the decree amended the French Public Health Code allowing for the legal cultivation, production/manufacture, transportation (including import/exporting), and possession of cannabis for medical use.

That decree will lead to the birth of a French medical cannabis industry, but only once it is implemented and the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) establishes the supply chain. The ANSM must also create the 11 member committee who will serve an advisory role on a number of aspects relating to medical cannabis, such as track and trace, approved methods of ingestion, and identification of cultivars. 

No Medical Cannabis Reciprocity

As the medical cannabis industry in France is still in its infancy, there are no regulations that currently allow for what is known as medical cannabis reciprocity, in other words, one state or country honoring another state or country’s medical cannabis recommendation. That means that even if you have a medical cannabis recommendation that is valid another country (Canada, Germany, Israel, United States, etc.) it will not help you legally purchase or use cannabis in France. Time will tell if France will allow for some sort of reciprocity for medical cannabis patients.

Limited Progress Towards Full Legalization

France is widely regarded as having some of the most restrictive cannabis laws in Europe and while they have very recently come to embrace medical cannabis, it is moving slowly and the government is generally opposed to legalization. Like the United States, despite very restrictive cannabis laws, France’s Interior Ministry notes that it “has Europe’s second-highest consumption levels with around 900,000 daily cannabis users.” As a fellow member of the European Union, France is watching their neighbor Germany, and French Health Minister François Braun says they “will closely monitor the evolution of the German legislative framework, especially with regard to its potential impact on cross-border regions.” Frustratingly, while the United States and much of the world is trending in a positive direction on cannabis, with legalization happening fairly rapidly, things have stalled in France at the early onset of medical legalization. 

A June 2021 poll by the Institut français d’opinion publique showed that 51% of French people wanted to see cannabis decriminalized, the highest percentage since the 1970s when it was first made illegal. Other survey data indicates that past year use rates and lifetime use rates in France were comparable to those of the U.S., with nearly half of the country reporting some cannabis use in their lifetime and over 10% reporting use in the past year.

CBD Flower Was Recently Legalized

With no adult use legalization in France, and no medical cannabis reciprocity, there is no legal way to consume THC-rich cannabis in France. Thankfully, the French Council of State (the French equivalent to the Supreme Court) overturned their ban on CBD-rich flower at the end of last year, allowing for the creation of a French CBD industry. That means Parisian tourists can soon be enjoying CBD-rich cannabis products, including flower. Time will tell if CBD-infused french wine and cheese will be on the menu any time soon. 

Disproportionate Targeting of Muslims

Like in the U.S., the enforcement of drug laws in France has disproportionately targeted some minority groups, specifically, Muslims. Professor David Guba ran the numbers, and despite only 9% of France’s population being Muslim, the data suggests “that up to 1 in 6 prisoners in France today may be an Arab Muslim man who used, possessed or sold cannabis.”

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Not only is CBD legal in France, but hemp flower as well, if the latest court ruling in the country stands.

French outlet RFI reports that On 30 December 2021, the French government legalized the sale of hemp-derived products containing CBD with 0.3 percent THC or less, after the country’s ban on CBD fell apart a year earlier. However—potentially to the dismay of D8 and hemp flower lovers—the government also banned the sale of hemp flower, citing its supposed psychotropic effects.

But a high court in France overturned that ban, ruling that CBD has not been proven to be harmful and that there are legitimate uses for flower that go beyond smoking. 

On December 29, France’s Council of State, the body that advises the government on legislation and acts as a type of Supreme Court, ruled that a general and absolute ban on the marketing of the substance in its raw state was “disproportionate.” They also didn’t find solid evidence of harm from CBD. If anything, there’s evidence of the contrary.

“The harmfulness of other molecules present in cannabis flowers and leaves, in particular CBD, has not been established,” the council said. The council added that evidence suggests CBD has “relaxing properties and anticonvulsant effects, but does not have a psychotropic effect and does not cause dependence.”

In other words, the court ruled that hemp flower should not automatically be categorized as psychotropic—rather it’s far from it. Additionally, it can be consumed as a homemade tea or infused oil and not just smoked. Homemade tinctures or vaporized flower are other considerations.

Concerns Over Distinguishing Cannabis

Despite allowing flower with the latest court ruling, concerns were raised regarding exactly how the government plans on separating hemp from THC-rich cannabis, which are nearly indistinguishable to the naked eye. The Council of State considered that the THC level “could be controlled by means of rapid tests.”

The European Court of Justice ruled in November 2020 that the ban on CBD in France, which was legal in several other European countries, was illegal based on the principle of free movement of goods.

Then the highest court in the French judiciary, The Court of Cassation, ruled last June that any CBD legally produced in the European Union could legally be sold in France.

RFI reports that France is now home to around 2,000 CBD shops, according to the professional hemp association (SPC). In addition, the industry’s annual turnover is estimated at around €500 million, or $534.1 million USD. More than half of those sales are from flower alone. 

Experts in the country say that the court’s latest ruling gives the green light for an “economically sustainable” hemp industry that can withstand the test of time.

Hemp Today reports that French hemp could bring €1.5 ($1.6B USD) to €2.5 billion ($2.6B USD) in annual turnover and result in 18,000-20,000 jobs, according to a French Senate group.

The French gray market for CBD was about €200 million ($214M USD) in 2021, and is expected to reach roughly €300 million ($321M USD) this year, UIVEC, a French extracts trade group, estimated. UIVEC also estimated that about 300-500 hectares of hemp were grown for CBD-producing flower in 2022.

The rules are expected to roll out in early 2023 as the legislation moves forward, and the government is expected to declare hemp compatible with the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy, develop a strategy for the industry, and set specific regulations.

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Spanning across six countries in Europe and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Europol and multiple law enforcement agencies launched Operation Desert Light and took down one of the world’s largest suppliers of cocaine.

According to a press release, Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, took out a 49-person “super cartel” and confiscated over 30 tons of drugs amid Operation Desert Light. Police say the cartel was headed by six main drug lords—the only ones considered “high-value targets”—in Dubai, with 43 lower-level henchmen.

“A total of 49 suspects have been arrested during the course of this investigation,” Europol stated. “The drugpins considered as high-value targets by Europol had come together to form what was known as a ‘super cartel’ which controlled around one third of the cocaine trade in Europe.”

Europol posted a YouTube video showing police agents and dogs searching homes filled with luxury sports cars, pools, and piles of unopened iPhones.

Nearly every drug enforcement agency around was called in: The massive operation enlisted Spain’s Guardia Civil; France’s Police Nationale; Belgium’s Federal Judicial Police Brussels and Federal Judicial Police Antwerp; the Netherlands’ National Police National Criminal Investigations Division and Police Unit Rotterdam; United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Interior and Dubai Police Force; and the DEA from the United States.

“These arrests are the culmination of parallel investigations run in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UAE with the support of Europol into the activities of this prolific criminal network involved in large-scale drugs trafficking and money laundering.”

“The scale of cocaine importation into Europe under the suspects’ control and command was massive and over 30 tonnes of drugs were seized by law enforcement over the course of the investigations.”

Vice reports that a Dutch-Bosnian trafficker Edin Gacanin, 40, aka “Tito” is allegedly one of the 50 largest cocaine traffickers in Europe, according to a leaked DEA report. Tito was a “big fish” suspected drug kingpin, with alleged links to high-profile Dutch crime boss Ridouan Taghi, who was also arrested in Dubai in 2019, and is currently on trial. Zouhair Lamchachti, 39, aka “Beertje”, who is both Dutch and Moroccan, was also arrested as a high value target.

The operation requires a bit of coordination: Last September, Europol and the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates joined forces. They signed a Liaison Officer Agreement, thus allowing UAE law enforcement liaison officers to be deployed to Europol’s headquarters in the Netherlands, the report explains. 

Europol said they’ve been planning to take down the super cartel for two years.

In Europe, data shows that during the past 10 years, access to cocaine in Europe is increasing yearly, according to The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s European Drug Report. “Overall, indicators suggest that the availability and use of cocaine in Europe remains high by historical standards,” analysts wrote. “In 2020, a record high of 213 tonnes of cocaine was seized. Increases in the number of cocaine laboratories dismantled in 2020, seizures of raw materials imported from South America and associated chemicals, together indicate large-scale cocaine processing in Europe.”

Cocaine is a problem in the U.S. as well, especially when it involves corrupt law enforcement. An off-duty Pentagon police officer was arrested last month with at least 2.5 kilos of cocaine. In that case, the Arlington County Police Department charged the officer with two counts of Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substance, and Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substance while Armed. 

Read Europol’s announcement for more details about the police approach to Operation Desert Light.

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Looking back on the trajectory of reform in Europe from the vantage point of 2032, a decade from now, this year, and particularly the spring and summer of 2022, will almost certainly be recognized as the European-wide tipping point for cannabis.

This is largely being driven by current events in Germany. The government just wrapped up several weeks of hearings on how to implement recreational reform. A white paper containing the recommendations of the same will be released in the fall, with draft legislation expected to be published by the end of the year. Beyond that, the timing is understandably a bit hazy, but the bill is widely expected to pass in the early part of 2023, with a recreational market on track to begin by the first part of 2024.

However, Germany is not the only game in town, as much as its impact on the conversation across the E.U. is huge.

The Domino Countries

There are currently several E.U. countries on the verge of recreational reform that stand poised to follow Malta into recreational reform this year by legalizing home grow. These are:

Switzerland – The country is launching its recreational use city trials this year. While outside of the E.U., the country’s forward progress on recreational reform is one of the key markets to watch in Europe right now.

Portugal – Now established as one of the most important medical cultivation countries in Europe, the country is on the verge of formal recreational reform—and will proceed with home grow as a first step to creating a fully integrated recreational market with international juice. Portugal also has the distinction of being the most liberal country on drug policies across the E.U.

Luxembourg – The country’s current government promised to implement recreational reform before the end of their first term (which ends next year). Medical reform was implemented during 2018. Currently, the first step into the adult use market will be home grow also, although given the size of the country, it most likely won’t be a large producer.

Austria – The country will certainly follow its DACH trading partners—Germany and Switzerland—across the recreational line in the near future. Medical reform has already been implemented here and the country as a strong hemp industry.

Medical Reform Is Still in Motion

Adult use reform of course is not the only discussion in the room. Medical reform has also been moving forward in important jurisdictions this year—leaving no major country within the region that does not recognize at least medical efficacy of the plant. Even Albania, in accession talks with the E.U., is moving ahead with medical use.

France – The country formally (and finally) moved forward on a pending medical trial earlier this year. The jury is still out on whether the country’s president Emmanuel Macron, will be pushed by his more liberal government to move forward on some kind of recreational discussion. As the cradle of hemp production in Europe, the country has also been the testing ground for changing CBD policy across the E.U.

Spain – The home of the cannabis club announced their recognition of medical efficacy this summer. This is significant for several reasons, including the fact that Spain is also apparently ramping up its medical cultivation while allowing the clubs to continue to operate.

As a result, Europe is very much having its “2012” moment. By 2024, it is almost certain at this point that there will be, beyond Holland, several European countries where recreational cannabis is legal.

The Global Impact of European Reform

While it is still hard to predict accurately, make no mistake about it: This change is seismic, worth a great deal of money, and will have huge repercussions.

It is unlikely that in the U.S., for example, serious arguments will hold much longer against finally legalizing cannabis on a federal level.

Beyond this, it is almost certain that multiple countries in Asia will follow both events in the E.U. as well as Thailand and probably Indonesia’s early lead. Even if this change is also “only” medical for now, as has been seen worldwide at this point, this is only the first step.

From this vantage point, it is also not hard to envisage a world where the plant is finally, formally recognized, and at an international level.

Does This Mean Smooth Sailing from Here?

Just because legalization is moving however, does not mean there will be no detours much less distractions. This starts with a domestic rollout of reform, which on the recreational front will almost certainly also include some states, cities, and towns also placing a ban on sales.

The discussion about tourism is also much in the balance as Holland continues to make noise about banning cannatourists from Amsterdam. However, it is hard to believe that this will last, even in Holland. Greece, for example, which is already inviting German pensioners to spend a warm winter away from higher gas prices and lower temperatures, will ignore this valuable segment of the market.

On the regulatory front, Novel Food looms as a large and unsolved problem—and not just for CBD but also the full plant discussion.

All of these issues will take time and money to resolve. However, the most important step has clearly been taken in Europe this summer—and that will reverberate in turn, as perhaps the last major push necessary for the final dominoes to begin falling. Regionally and, of course, globally.

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