Under the medical cannabis trial, rolled out in March 2021, patients suffering from serious pathologies were prescribed active cannabis-derived substances in the form of essential oils to be taken orally or of cannabis flowers for vaping.
The experiment was due to end on 31 December 2024, but at a meeting on Thursday between patient associations and the health authorities, the Ministry of Health gave the green light for it to run for a further six months, FranceInfo reported.
The extension will be granted only "with a view to weaning patients off the drug or finding alternatives", the resigning Health Minister, Geneviève Darrieussecq, wrote in the letter enabling the decision.
Cannabis is banned in France, even for medical purposes, but patient associations have long been lobbying to get it cleared for use to relieve chronic pain. At the time of the launch, doctor and pharmacologist Nicolas Authier told RFI the experiment was a "rather unique" way of administering medication.
Read more at RFI