An online questionnaire is being launched to gauge public opinion on recreational marijuana use, before parliamentary debates on the issue Reports Connexion
The French parliament will launch an online questionnaire today to better understand public opinion towards recreational cannabis use.
The questionnaire, which will have five or six questions, will be available on the Assemblée nationale website for around one month.
MP for Essonne and leader of the project, Robin Reda, told AFP that a report detailing the results would be available towards the end of March or beginning of April.
He said: “The goal is to inform debate as much as possible. The success of the survey will depend on the largest number of people possible participating.”
Government inquiries into medical marijuana
The parliamentary group behind the project will also give conclusions on its studies into the use of medical marijuana (including products such as cannabidiol and CBD) in mid-February.
France had previously tried to ban such products – but in November 2020 was found to be in violation of EU laws for doing so.
In 2019 the Assemblée nationale also authorised an experiment giving medical marijuana, in non-smokable forms, to at least 3,000 patients with serious illnesses. The trial was supposed to start in March 2020, but has been delayed by the health crisis.
Presentation
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Regulation and impact of the different uses of cannabis
The Economic Affairs Committee, the Social Affairs Committee, the Law Committee, the Finance Committee, the Cultural and Educational Affairs Committee, the Sustainable Development Committee have set up a joint information mission on the regulations and the impact different uses of cannabis.
In France, as elsewhere in the world, the regulation of cannabis use has particularly evolved over the last ten years.
The parliamentary fact-finding mission, which will meet for a period of one year, the time necessary to explore all the issues of public health and safety, economic development and even regional planning, will cover the three types of uses of cannabis and will explore the issues affecting the hemp industry.
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The hemp industry is one of the oldest in France, located in sectors ranging from construction to gardening, including the automotive industry and textiles. France is the European leader even if it is losing market share with the rise of its European neighbors and emerging countries which are developing their production for other uses with strong outlets in the health, food, cosmetics or liquids for e-cigarettes.
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Therapeutic cannabis : a specialized committee (CSST) within the ANSM has issued its final opinion in favor of real-life experimentation for five specific pathologies before considering possible generalization. The PLFSS authorized this experiment for two years from 1 st January 2020. In addition to the experimental period, it’s a set of questions to be addressed: how to create, over time, a real industry French therapeutic cannabis? How to support and secure this sector in our territory in a logic of sustainable development? How to promote access to quality medical products?
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“Well-being” cannabis : it concerns everyday consumer products (food supplements, herbal teas, cosmetics, e-liquids, etc.) with soothing virtues which are not intended to be prescribed in a therapeutic setting, do not induce no psychotropic effects and are not classified as narcotics. While the European Union authorizes the free circulation of these products, France prohibits their production, preventing national economic players (producers, distributors, product creators, farmers or extraction laboratories) from developing a sector that would meet expectations. societal and environmental.
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“Recreational” cannabis : it concerns substances such as marijuana (cannabis leaf) or hashish (cannabis resin) which are prohibited by the legal framework in force. According to the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, the French are the main consumers in Europe. It therefore appears necessary to establish a diagnosis on the impacts of this consumption in our society, mainly on public health and safety, as well as the economic fabric, to measure the consequences of the evolution of legislation in other countries. and to make an initial assessment of the effects of the recent package of drug use.
The fact-finding mission, common to six parliamentary committees and made up of around thirty parliamentarians from the majority and from the different opposition groups, will provide an inventory and explore the issues linked to the different uses of cannabis (therapeutic, well-being). be and recreational) and the hemp industry. Its work will be based in particular on examining the situation of countries which have regulated these different uses within the European Union and on the international scene, particularly in North America. The parliamentary fact-finding mission will deliver its first conclusions in the second half of 2020.
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