Mindanao Times

French OKs budget for MJ experiment­s

- France-Presse

LAWMAKERS in France, one of few European countries to still ban medical cannabis use, approved the budget Friday for two years of patient experiment­s that advocates hope will pave the way for a change in the law.

The National Assembly voted for the tests, already given the green light by France’s ANSM medicines regulator, to be paid out of the social security budget for 2020.

“I sincerely hope that the experiment­s can begin in the first quarter of 2020,” junior health minister Christelle Dubos said after the vote.

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 deprotests

termine whether cannabis derivative­s can alleviate the symptoms of certain illnesses, and in which doses, he said.

Seventeen other European Union members have already authorised cannabisba­sed therapies, he added.

The tests will be done at a number of hospitals, with people who have serious conditions such as epilepsy, chronic pain, cancer or involuntar­y muscle contractio­ns associated with multiple sclerosis.

In July, the ANSM gave the go-ahead for the experiment­s, which will not see patients getting a prescripti­on for an old-fashioned joint.

For the purposes of the research, the cannabis can be ingested in the form of oil capsules, infusions, or drops.

France, which has one of the highest proportion­s of recreation­al drug users in Europe, softened penalties on marijuana use, making in punishable only by an on

the-spot fine of 200 euros.

In June, a group of French economists recommende­d fully legalising the drug, arguing it said would add billions to state coffers.

But Macron’s government has consistent­ly ruled out changing the law to allow people to get legally high.Agence

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines