CBD flowers in France: why the 2021 ban was struck down

The order of 30 December 2021, published in the Journal officiel on 31 December, replaced the 1990 order that limited hemp to its fibre and seeds. It opened cultivation and industrial use to Cannabis sativa L. varieties listed in the official catalogues whose Δ⁹-THC content does not exceed 0.30%.

Flowers and leaves were treated separately. They could only be harvested, imported or used to produce extracts. Paragraph II of article 1 added a ban, quoted here as the Conseil d'État reproduced it:

"the sale to consumers of raw flowers or leaves in any form, alone or mixed with other ingredients, their possession by consumers and their consumption"

The ban therefore targeted raw plant matter, whatever the stated use: flower for smoking, herbal tea, blend. An extract made from the same flowers remained legal if it met the 0.30% limit. It was this difference in treatment between the plant and its extract that shops and growers challenged.

Hearing an urgent application, the Conseil d'État's interim relief judge suspended the ban on 24 January 2022, just over three weeks after publication. Interim relief is a fast procedure: the judge does not decide the case, but freezes a text when there is urgency and serious doubt about its legality.

The doubt was about public health, not EU law. Nothing in the file showed that flowers with no more than 0.30% THC posed a risk justifying "a general and absolute ban". The same order used that very limit to define authorised varieties. The judge also noted that checks make it possible to tell compliant products apart.

The suspension covered the first paragraph of section II, the one that reserved flowers for extracts and banned their sale, possession and consumption. The other contested provisions were not suspended.

Almost a year later, the Conseil d'État ruled on the merits, joining fifteen applications. In decision No 444887, it annulled the whole of paragraph II of article 1. Its press release sums up three reasons.

The reasoning matches that of the EU Court of Justice in the Kanavape ruling of 2020: a sales ban must rest on an established risk, not a hypothetical one. The Conseil d'État did, however, reject other challenges: the 0.30% limit and the certified-seed requirement, also contested, were upheld.

The annulment removed a ban, not the conditions. A CBD flower sold in France must still come from a variety listed in the EU or French catalogue, grown from certified seed. Its Δ⁹-THC content must not exceed 0.30%, the limit explained in our article on the legal THC level.

How the product is sold matters too. A flower presented as a food or a supplement falls outside the order and under the EU novel food regulation. On 20 May 2026, the French Ministry of Agriculture reminded operators that such CBD foods are not authorised. Our overview of CBD regulation in 2026 explains that distinction.

To check a flower before buying, the document that matters is the batch certificate of analysis: it shows the measured Δ⁹-THC, not just the CBD content. Our laboratory page explains how these measurements are made. The products on sale are grouped in the CBD flowers category.

A flower that is legal to buy is not neutral behind the wheel. On 21 June 2023, the Court of Cassation held that the offence of driving after drug use is made out as soon as a test shows a controlled substance, "regardless of the dose absorbed". The fact that the product was sold legally below 0.30% THC makes no difference.

Since the law of 9 July 2025, the offence carries up to 3 years in prison and a €9,000 fine. Our article on CBD and driving covers the tests and penalties.