Two-year French experiment to study the therapeutic properties of technical hemp
Only after the end of the experiment and the analysis of the results obtained will it be possible to talk about the expediency of amending the current legislation and regulating the possibility of using therapeutic properties in the first place of those cannabis varieties that have shown themselves to be socially safe and that have a significant therapeutic effect.
The French Ministry of Health has taken the first steps to explore the use of cannabis for medical purposes. This can already be said after the parliamentarians of the country voted for the approval of a program on the experimental use of the therapeutic properties of cannabis over the next two years.
According to experts of the French hemp market, this decision by parliamentarians will make it possible to use cannabis with a low content of tetrahydrocannabinol and a significant content of other drug-free cannabinoids for the treatment of a number of severe, including chronic diseases.
Given the fact that such varieties do not yet exist in France, cannabis rich in drug-free cannabinoids will initially come from other countries. Hemp raw materials, which will take part in a biennial experiment according to the requirements of the state structures of the Republic, must meet several key requirements:
- the number of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol should be minimal so that this raw material is not socially dangerous and is not of interest to the drug market dealers;
- the number of drug-free cannabinoids with therapeutic properties in raw materials should be maximum;
- the use of leaves and inflorescences of technical hemp therapeutic orientation or products / preparations made on their basis should have a powerful therapeutic effect, as well as be able to be used in the treatment of a significant number of diseases.
The French Agency for Food, Environmental Protection, Occupational Health and Safety (Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail) organized an expert panel responsible for developing a mechanism by which patients in need hemp raw material for a therapeutic use in the framework of a two-year experimental program. The head of the aforementioned expert commission, Nicholas Otier, in the course of communication with the media, stated that “Financing this kind of two-year program will be the first step towards the most effective use of the therapeutic properties of cannabis for medical purposes. Only after the end of the experiment and the analysis of the obtained results will it be possible to talk about the feasibility of making changes to the current legislation and regulating the possibility of using therapeutic properties in the first place of those cannabis varieties that have shown themselves to be socially safe and that have a significant therapeutic effect. ”
Commentary of the Association "Ukrainian technical hemp"
In France, technical varieties of cannabis in which tetrahydrocannabinol below 0.2% is grown on an industrial scale, and citizens of the country can use products made from this raw material without any restrictions. The results of the two-year experiment, during which it is planned to investigate the therapeutic properties of cannabis used for medical purposes, should be the basis for deciding to make the appropriate changes to the current regulatory framework of France, in contrast to Ukraine, where the draft law No. 10313 registered in the Supreme Council of Ukraine from 05/20/2019 it is notable for a considerable amount of populism, it is primarily in the interests of pharmacological companies and does not contain any statistical / medical their / scientific justification.
The experience of French officials must be transferred to the territory of our country, while the corresponding varieties of technical therapeutic cannabis that meet all the characteristics of a plant with appropriate therapeutic properties in Ukraine have already been created and will be grown on an industrial scale from 2020.