CBD in French pharmacies in 2026: what they may sell

A pharmacist is not a free trader. Article L5125-24 of the French Public Health Code forbids selling anything other than goods on a list set by the Minister of Health. That list is the order of 15 February 2002, amended several times, most recently in 2023. It has 26 headings: medicines, medical devices, medicinal plants, essential oils, hygiene products, food supplements, cosmetics, among others.

Vaping products are not on it, and no heading covers flowers or resins meant to be smoked. The table below crosses this list with the status of each CBD format in September 2026.

The CBD oils and capsules sold in pharmacies were sold as food supplements, not as medicines. A food supplement is a food, subject to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on novel foods. A food rarely eaten in the Union before 15 May 1997 may only be sold after authorisation. No CBD-based ingredient has received one.

The Ministry of Agriculture put it bluntly in a notice of 20 May 2026: foods containing CBD are illegal products that must be withdrawn from the market. It is extending checks carried out since 2023 to every channel, specialist shops, supermarkets and online sales included. The regulation covers any placing on the market, so a pharmacy is no exception. The notice sets no deadline. According to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur chamber of agriculture, the Directorate-General for Food had told the trade that checks would start on 15 May 2026.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) opinion changes nothing in the short term. On 9 February 2026 it published a provisional safe level of 0.0275 mg of CBD per kilo of body weight per day, about 2 mg a day for a 70 kg adult. This figure applies to CBD at least 98% pure. Safety is not established under 25, during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or for people on medication. It is not an authorisation. Our overview of CBD regulation in 2026 details these steps, and the article on EFSA's reference dose does the maths for different strengths.

Epidyolex is an oral solution containing 100 mg of cannabidiol per millilitre. It received its marketing authorisation on 19 September 2019. It is a list I medicine, reserved for rare epilepsies in children and adults: Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes, together with clobazam, and tuberous sclerosis complex.

It has only been available in French community pharmacies since 5 January 2023, according to Vidal. Since March 2025, the initial prescription can come from a neurologist or paediatric neurologist working in private practice or in hospital. It is reimbursed at 65% for eligible patients. No pharmacist may dispense it without a prescription, and no product sold in a shop is equivalent. Our article on CBD and epilepsy summarises the trials behind this authorisation.

Medical cannabis is a separate matter. The THC-containing medicines tested in the French pilot programme were only dispensed to enrolled patients, and their permanent framework is not yet in place. See our article on medical cannabis in 2026.

Not on the product. A CBD cosmetic falls under the same EU Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, whether it is sold in a pharmacy, a parapharmacy or online. Being on a pharmacy shelf says nothing about its real CBD content or the absence of THC. It may not claim any therapeutic effect. Our guide to authorised cosmetic claims lists what a label may say.

What a pharmacy does bring is someone trained in drug interactions. CBD inhibits several liver enzymes that break down many medicines. If you take a treatment, the pharmacist can check your prescription before you use any CBD, even a product bought elsewhere. Our article on CBD's grapefruit effect explains the mechanism.

For quality, the benchmark is the same everywhere: a batch certificate of analysis from an independent laboratory, giving the CBD content, Δ⁹-THC under 0.30% and no HHC or H4CBD. Our guide to reading a certificate of analysis goes through each line.