EU Court Strikes Down France’s CBD Ban

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has prevented France from banning the marketing of cannabidiol (CBD) “lawfully produced in another Member State when it is extracted from the Cannabis sativa plant in its entirety and not solely from its fibre and seeds.” In its ruling, CJEU found that “CBD cannot be classified as a ‘narcotic drug,'” and although France is “not required to demonstrate that the dangerous property of CBD is identical to that of certain narcotic drugs,” the country “must assess available scientific data in order to make sure that the real risk to public health alleged does not appear to be based on purely hypothetical considerations. A decision to prohibit the marketing of CBD, which indeed constitutes the most restrictive obstacle to trade in products lawfully manufactured and marketed in other Member States, can be adopted only if that risk appears sufficiently established.”