They all have a little ” hangover “, today, the fault of a short and festive night. Yesterday, around 6 p.m., the Council of State granted a great victory to the actors and actresses of the French CBD: they can again sell hemp flowers. So inevitably, many celebrated it as it should.
“I think the whole CBD industry woke up with a hangover this morning”, jokes Mao Aoust, boss of the chain of 180 High Society stores. “Yesterday, when the decision fell, everyone was crazy. We opened a few bottles of champagne, and we celebrated! It was a bit like our New Year’s Eve, since New Year’s Eve was ruined”, smiles the Marseillais, in reference to the decree of the government published on December 31.
Others let go of their vocal cords to celebrate. “When my lawyer informed me of the news, I asked him if I could sing a little, and I sang Seven Nation Army White Stripes, laughs Aurélien Delecroix, president of the Professional Union of Hemp. It’s really a great victory. »
For Ingrid Metton, lawyer who defends CBD traders ” since seven years “, this decision does a lot of good. “It is an immense professional joy. I tell myself that, finally, CBD entrepreneurs will be able to carry out their activity normally. »
Flower neither forbidden nor legal
However, after the party, it will be necessary to get back to work quickly to clarify the situation. Today, the flower is neither prohibited nor fully legal. The law will remain unclear for a few more months. The Council of State must issue a final decision – an “appeal for annulment” – within six months to a year. It may go in the same direction as the first decision, or say the opposite.
“The marketing of flowers and CBD products at less than 0.3% is authorized today! In criminal law, the prohibition is the exception, the principle is freedom. To prohibit something, you have to write it down., recalls Yann Bisiou, teacher-researcher in private law, and legal consultant to the Union of CBD Professionals.
After a break, the dialogue must resume between the actors of the CBD and the public authorities. “This judgment of the Council of State is a strong signal which must force the authorities to review their copy. As of yesterday evening, I wrote to the MILDECA to invite them to finally sit around a table”, hopes Aurélien Delecroix.
Embarrassed political staff
For his part, the political staff is embarrassed. In the front row, the MILDECA does not wish to express itself and is hunkered down while waiting for the storm to pass. Gérald Darmanin, him, “regret” this decision of the Council of State. He was the guest of France Inter this morning and attempted a punchline which some would say had nothing to do with the schmilblick: “We did not increase the price of tobacco to €10 for us to accept the legalization, the decriminalization of cannabis”.
.@GDarmanin “regrets” the state board’s suspension of the ban on the trade in CBD flowers and leaves. “We did not increase the price of tobacco to 10 euros for us to accept the decriminalization of cannabis”#le79inter pic.twitter.com/axcuUAEOv7
– France Inter (@franceinter) January 25, 2022
At the National Assembly, the Minister of Health had a little more trouble explaining himself. Responding to a question from deputy François-Michel Lambert addressed to Gérald Darmanin, who did not want to answer, Olivier Véran maintained that “The Council of State canceled part of the decree for reasons of form, considering that the health reasons were perhaps excessive. It is up to us to show that the health reason is valid ”.
“Cannabis flowers are not the flowers of evil.”@fm_lambert (LT) questions the Govt on the suspension of the ban on the sale of CBD flowers by the Council of State. He asks him if he is “ready to receive all these professionals.”#DirectAN #QAG pic.twitter.com/DJoZYcubIL
– National Assembly (@AssembleeNat) January 25, 2022
Darmanin and Véran are notoriously in conflict on the subject. The first is in favor of a very firm framework on illegal drugs. The second is more favorable to Cannabis, but seems to have lost the political battle on the subject.
“If I were the government, I would rewrite the whole decree, plead with Newsweed the deputy (LREM) Jean-Baptiste Moreau, fervent supporter of hemp. At the time, II had said that the decree would fall on the first legal action. The government still decided to pass this text. And so I wouldn’t want to pass for an old fart, but I had told them.
