Gérald Darmanin does not hide it: he is fiercely opposed to any legalization of cannabis, which, according to him, would seal a "moral defeat".Questioned Tuesday morning on France Inter on the new judicial rebound in the CBD soap opera, the Minister of the Interior moved the debate on the sanitary ground by ensuring that "the whole" of the derivatives of this plant would be harmful.
"In general, all substances that fall under cannabis, drugs, are very bad for health," said the minister after having "regretted" the decision of the State Council to suspend the ministerial decree which prohibited theSale of cannabis flowers loaded with cannabidiol (CBD).
The Minister's assertion is however questionable: if his consumption in the form of joints has undeniable health risks, cannabis also has therapeutic virtues, recognized in particular by WHO, which led around fifty countries to authorize hisMedical use.In France, the government to which Mr. Darmanin belongs himself launched an experiment on this subject, with the active support of the Ministry of Health and based on the advice of a scientific committee.
"There is a political discourse of simplification which consists in saying cannabis = drugs, which allows to close the potential debate on its different uses, deplores with AFP Nicolas Authier, psychiatrist and pharmacologist at the CHU Clermont-Ferrand, whochaired this scientific committee. It all depends on it, how it is used and what is the quality of the product. It is a serious subject that deserves a substantive reflection and cannot be swept away in a sentence ".
The therapeutic effects of cannabis
In fact, unlike what Gérald Darmanin claims, cannabis is not always "bad" for health and can even, on the contrary, be part of a therapeutic process aimed at eating the effects of serious illnesses.
This observation was drawn up by the government itself which gave, in March 2021, the kickoff of an experimentation of cannabis on some 3,000 patients in "therapeutic dead end" and suffering from certain forms of epilepsies,Side effects of chemotherapy or for palliative care and uncontrolled muscle contractions caused by multiple sclerosis.
"It is the role of medicine to fight diseases and relieve pain. As a doctor, as a minister, I am proud that France can experience the use of cannabis for medical purposes, and'Thus better accompany thousands of patients who face heavy pathologies, "said Minister of Health Olivier Véran, kicking for this experimentation which is based on the administration of cannabis by oils or by vaporization ofdried flowers.Its results are expected for September 2023.
Upstream, a committee of experts had been set up in September 2018 by the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) in particular in view of "converging scientific data which showed an interest in cannabis in the processing of certain symptoms of differentpathologies ".
At the end of its work, this committee deemed "relevant" to authorize cannabis with therapeutic purposes for "patients in certain clinical situations and in the event of insufficient relief or poor tolerance of therapies, drugs or not,accessible ".
"We relied on peer -reviewed studies that showed a benefit for certain patients," said Professor Authier, who recognizes that this medication is still at the "experimental" stage."There is a scientific base that deserves to be strengthened because we are a little delay."
On this ground, France actually accuses a "very regrettable delay", deplored a parliamentary report published in June 2021, which stressed that fifty countries (Israel, Germany, United Kingdom, Portugal ...) had already authorizedTherapeutic cannabis "with very diverse approaches".
As early as 2019, experts from the World Health Organization had pointed out in a report of potentially beneficial effects of medical cannabis.
"The therapeutic use of cannabis has shown both positive results and the absence of important side effects in the treatment of loss of appetite linked to HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, Crohn's disease, from theNeuropathic diabetes, neuropathic pain, migraines and bunch headaches, "noted the WHO, while indicating that additional data was required to carry out a" full evaluation ".
In 2017, the American academies of science, engineering and medicine also reported promising results on the benefits of cannabis for medical use."The committee brought together elements showing that patients treated with cannabis or cannabinoids were more likely to experience a significant reduction in symptoms" with regard to chronic pain in adults ", underlined their report, which also pointed out a"Efficiency" in the treatment of vomiting related to chemotherapy or spasms caused by plate sclerosis.
In this context, Gérald Darmanin's assertion has Dr. Marlène Amilhaud, who directs the experiment on medical cannabis at the Guéret hospital center, in Creuse.
"It is not coherent to say such a thing because it would mean that we would endanger patients, which is completely false," she told AFP, also criticizing the amalgam maintainedby this declaration.
"We prescribe an oil extracted from cannabis, which will be prepared according to pharmaceutical criteria and provided by a pharmacist as a drug while respecting contraindications while the same oil can become a drug if it is acquired on the black market, badly preparedAnd poorly used, "adds Professor Authier, who recalls that the main danger of cannabis comes from smoking it.France remains the European country which has the most illicit cannabis consumers.
According to these specialists, French experimentation must make it possible to study more rigorously the possible therapeutic virtues of cannabis.
"There are positive feedback from the countries that have authorized it but in terms of methodology it is not as rigorous. We realize that it is effective but we have not yet undeniable scientific evidenceProviding for example the absolute superiority of cannabis in relation to morphine or a placebo, "said Dr. Amilhaud.
What about CBD?
According to the two doctors joined by AFP, Mr. Darmanin's words also maintain confusion between the psychotropic principles of cannabis and the CBD, whose European justice as the State Council estimated the dangerousness not established enough to justifyits ban.
In its decision made public on November 19, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union thus judged that France was not founded to prohibit the sale of CBD sheets based only on health arguments.
"The Court notes that, according to the current state of scientific knowledge, which is necessary to take into account, unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (commonly known as THC), another cannabinoid of hemp, the CBD in question does not appearHave a psychotropic effect or harmful effect on human health, "the court wrote in a statement summarizing its decision.
"The national jurisdiction must assess the scientific data available to ensure that the real alleged risk for public health does not appear to be based on purely hypothetical considerations," also noted the Court.
The government replied by taking, at the end of December 2021, a new decree restoring the ban on the sale of CBD flowers by relying "mainly" on public health reasons.
"If there are uncertainties on the health effects of the consumption of CBD products, scientific studies have shown that CBD is acting in the brain on dopamine and serotonin in serotonin inThus making a full -fledged psychoactive product. Its consumption can therefore have psychoactive, sedation and drowsiness effects, "argued the ministry in the presentation of its reasons, without giving more details on these studies.
But this argument did not convince the Council of State this time which, ruling in summary proceedings, has just suspended this decree by ensuring that the health risks were not sufficiently established.
"In view of the documents paid to the procedure by the parties and the exchanges held during the hearing, it does not result from the investigation, on the date of this order, that the flowers and leaf sheets whose contentin THC is not greater than 0.30 % would have a degree of harmfulness for health justifying a general and absolute ban measure of their sale to consumers and their consumption ", decided the Council of State, which mustReturn to the background of the file in the Pochaines weeks.
After this new setback for the government, the sentence released by Mr. Darmanin first translates "annoyance", according to Professor Authier.This debate, he believes, "comes to disturb the approach above all security that we have in France and which consists in not wanting to differentiate the different uses of this flower".
Jérémy Tordjman, AFP France
