The Minister of Health, Yannick Neuder, declared on Wednesday that he wanted to "study" the path of medical cannabis in France, while saying he was opposed to legalizing its recreational use.
The year 2025 was to see the arrival in France of cannabis-based treatments for therapeutic purposes, following a period of experimentation carried out with several thousand patients, which ended on December 31, 2024.
But their future remains unclear, pending a decision from the government.
Patients who are currently in the experiment will be able, until June 30, "to continue taking it while waiting to reorganize, to consult to find out if we can create a channel around this new source of medication," Mr. Neuder recalled.
"I think that we need to study this path of therapeutic cannabis because it covers a range of stubborn pains that are often not relieved by other medications," such as in "cancerology, stiffness, facial pain," explained the minister at the end of a visit to the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris.
On the other hand, "I am still against recreational cannabis," he recalled, judging it possible to reach a "very balanced position" on the subject.
The new Minister of Health also indicated that he had started "Dry January", a movement which calls for people not to drink alcohol for a month, by drinking "only sparkling water" on the plane taking them back to mainland France after their trip to Mayotte.
A LR MP for Isère, the cardiologist was criticized in the fall for comments deemed complacent toward winegrowers, after opposing a general increase in taxes on alcohol.
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