France creates committee to draft rules for medical cannabis trial

The French Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) created a scientific committee to write certain rules ahead of the launch of a two-year medical cannabis experiment.

The areas of focus of the committee will be:
  • The products that will become available to patients during the trial.
  • The training of doctors and pharmacists who will prescribe and dispense cannabis, respectively, as well as information for patients.
  • A registry of patients to evaluate the experiment at the end of the two-year period.

While the ANSM communication doesn’t specify whether the committee will be responsible for actually selecting the medical cannabis products, it appears that it will at least play a significant role in establishing the requirements.

The committee is made up of 18 experts, health professionals and patient representatives.

The group, which met for the first time Oct. 16, is expected to work for a period of six months.

More information about the French medical cannabis experiment can be found here.