The Council of State suspends the decree banning CBD flowers
A summary to understand
In order for you to understand this major event for CBD players and the cannabis world in general, it is important for us to remind you of the major events that have taken place recently. The sale of CBD is legal in France, but no law has been written to regulate it. If the sale of CBD is legal, it is thanks to the free trade of European goods. In France, the sale of cannabis-based products is normally prohibited, unless the THC level does not exceed 0.2%. Thanks to free trade, recent years have seen CBD shops selling flowers containing less than 0.2% THC flourish all over France. Searches and intimidation took place for a long time, but thanks to these pioneers, things were able to change and evolve in the right direction! For a long time, the shops remained in legal limbo with the French authorities.
The government continues to not take CBD seriously even though many benefits have now been demonstrated by the scientific community. If you want to know more about the benefits of CBD, do not hesitate to consult our complete article on the effects and benefits of CBD .
The Kanavape affair
In 2014 and then in 2018, a case shook the cannabis players in France, that of Kanavape. The accused were convicted of an offence on the sale of poisonous substances, because they marketed an electronic cigarette with CBD. They of course appealed and brought the matter before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
On November 19, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in favor of Kanavape entrepreneurs. By considering that France's legislation on CBD imports from other Member States was not in compliance with the principle of free trade in goods, placing France in illegality in the eyes of the EU.
It was thanks to this case that the âofficialâ beginnings of the sale of CBD in France were able to take off. Setting a precedent, the Kanavape case allowed French entrepreneurs to create their businesses almost without any problems and consumers to consume CBD without being worried.
Constitutional Council seized by hemp unions
The Mildeca (Interministerial Mission for the Fight against Drugs and Addictive Behavior) had sent a bill to the European Commission a few months earlier requesting a ban on the sale of CBD flowers. Since the European Commission had not responded to this draft bill, it could have been considered well within the means to be implemented! This is why the government recently implemented this famous decree. The CBD hemp industry union chaired by Aurélien Delecroix had referred the matter to the Constitutional Council well before the government decree.
The decree of December 30, 2021 prohibiting the sale of CBD flowers
A bolt from the blue came on December 30, 2021 and caught all the CBD shops in France off guard. A decree written by the current government now prohibiting the sale of CBD flowers and mixed products based on CBD flowers, such as CBD teas and infusions. Clearly, the players in the CBD world really did not expect this and it was a real blow for them as well as for us, especially on the last day of the year! This decree still allowed:
- To recognize the entire sector including culture
- Admitting an increase in the THC rate in products ends at 0.3%!
But the latter had indeed banned the sale of CBD flowers and CBD-based infusions. For CBD shops, this represents on average 50 to 90% of their turnover. The year 2021 therefore ended very badly for CBD players, both sellers and consumers.
Three lawyers, including MaĂźtre Xavier Pizarro, set to work on New Year's Eve to build a rock-solid case to counter this decree, which is more than liberticidal with regard to Europe and even the entire world.
Here is a short video on the December 30th decree showing a record of hypocrisy regarding CBD flowers:
Thanks to France Inter for the video and to former minister CĂ©cile Duflot for this intervention.
The Council of State seized
The day after the announcement of the decree banning the sale of CBD flowers, Marseille barrister Xavier Pizarro urgently appealed to the Council of State. He is simply demanding a total annulment of this decree, based mainly on the decision of the Constitutional Council. Generally recognising the CBD sector, it is therefore, according to him, unthinkable to accept that professional players cannot sell CBD flowers on French territory. We will now have to wait a few weeks before the Council of State meets and makes a decision. At this point, nothing is certain yet, and yet it was January 1, 2022. The players in the CBD world are not sleeping very well, some are already ready to close shop. There was even news that a seller had burned his entire stock of CBD flowers!
The Constitutional Council
The constitution of this text of law was not problematic according to the constitutional council which rendered its decision on January 7, 2022. In any case, by adopting this bill, it was the recognition of an entire CBD hemp sector that was recognized even if the ban on flowers was still current. The great sages have spoken, CBD is OK, but CBD flowers, still not...
At the same time, the Constitutional Council does not intervene in the writings or in the proposed laws, but rather in the constitutional problems that the latter could violate. Bad news for CBD flowers, but ultimately very good news for the sector which is finally recognized by a high institution.
CBD flowers at the Council of State
The Council of State was therefore notified and the meeting took place on January 14, 2022. Many people were present, including presidential candidate Yannick Jadot, who supports the CBD and cannabis sector (he is pro-legalization).
According to those present, including the lawyers who brought the matter before the Council of State, government representatives maintained a prohibitionist line against CBD in the same way as cannabis. A mistake on their part, because CBD had just been recognized last week by the Constitutional Council. In addition, the Kanavape affair had already put the CBD sector into first gear at the level of justice, and the Council of State could not deny this.
The meeting was over and the council promised a response by the middle of the following week in order to make the right decision.
Suspension of the judgment thanks to the Council of State
We had to wait a little longer than expected before getting the good news! The council temporarily suspends the government decree dated January 24, 2022. For the moment the final decision has not been made, but the decree is indeed suspended! Champagne! A bit like in sports, we like to celebrate victories, and at this moment, this is really one!
We offer you this short video to understand a little better the situation of all CBD sellers:
We thank the RMC team for this report!
Obviously the entire Cali Weed team is delighted to be able to continue selling CBD flowers as well as CBD resins , CBD oils and other CBD candies . This news gives hope to the entire hemp industry so that together we can have a legal and defined framework in this beautiful industry that is CBD hemp.
The Cali Weed team