Is CBD a drug? What French law and the WHO say

The question "is CBD a drug?" hides several. The word can mean a narcotic banned by law, a substance that changes how the brain works, or a product that creates dependence. CBD does not get the same answer in each case.

Keep the third row in mind: it is the high, produced by THC, that makes cannabis a narcotic. CBD, the plant's other major cannabinoid, does not produce one.

In France, a narcotic is a substance written onto an official list. Article R5132-86 of the Public Health Code bans the production, sale and use of cannabis, its plant, its resin and "tetrahydrocannabinols, natural or synthetic". Annex IV of the order of 22 February 1990, which sets the narcotics list, also covers tetrahydrocannabinols. Cannabidiol is not named in any of these texts.

The hemp that CBD comes from falls under another text. The order of 30 December 2021 allows the cultivation, import, export and industrial and commercial use of Cannabis sativa L. varieties listed in the official catalogues whose Δ⁹-THC content does not exceed 0.30%. On 29 December 2022, the Council of State struck down the ban on selling raw flowers and leaves that the same order contained. The origin of the threshold is covered in our article on the legal THC level.

The limit works both ways. A hemp flower at 0.25% THC is a legal product; the same flower at 0.50% is cannabis under criminal law. Using it is then punishable by one year in prison and a €3,750 fine, or by a €500 fixed fine since 20 August 2026. It is not the CBD that tips the product over, it is the THC level.

The Kanavape case concerned an electronic cigarette filled with CBD oil. The CBD was extracted in the Czech Republic from whole hemp plants, flowers included, then packaged in France. The company's two managers had been convicted in Marseille, because at the time only hemp fibre and seeds could be sold. The Aix-en-Provence court of appeal referred the question to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In its ruling of 19 November 2020 (case C-663/18), the Court notes that CBD is not mentioned in the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. A literal reading of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs could bring it in, as a cannabis extract, but that reading would run against the purpose of the text, which is to protect health. On current knowledge, the Court concludes, CBD "does not appear to have any psychotropic effect or any harmful effect on human health". It therefore cannot be considered a narcotic.

The ruling leaves room for member states: a restriction is still possible on public health grounds, provided it is proportionate and backed by scientific data. What followed in France is traced in our article on Kanavape.

The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence reviewed cannabidiol in June 2018. Its critical review concludes that in humans, CBD shows no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential. It found no published case of abuse of or dependence on pure CBD, and no associated public health problem. The committee therefore recommended not placing pure CBD under international control.

Two controlled trials point the same way. In 2017, a US team gave 200, 400 or 800 mg of oral CBD to 31 frequent cannabis smokers, compared with a placebo and cannabis at 5.3-5.8% THC. The cannabis produced the effects users look for; CBD looked like placebo on every measure. The Epidyolex summary of product characteristics cites a study in recreational drug users: compared with dronabinol (synthetic THC) and alprazolam, an anti-anxiety drug, cannabidiol has low abuse potential.

No dependence does not mean no effect. At the medicine's doses, 10 to 25 mg per kilo per day, the same document reports drowsiness in 23% of treated patients, reduced appetite in 21% and diarrhoea in 20%. CBD is broken down by liver enzymes that also process many medicines, hence interactions with some treatments. Our article on CBD side effects goes through this data dose by dose.

MILDECA, the interministerial mission against drugs, sums up the nuance in two sentences: CBD "does not cause dependence, unlike THC", but it has "psychoactive effects, in that it acts on the brain". Psychoactive means acting on the central nervous system, which caffeine does too. Psychotropic, in everyday use, means a substance that alters perception, judgement or coordination: that is the cannabis high, which CBD does not produce.

The difference comes down to receptors. THC directly activates the brain's CB1 receptor, which triggers the high; CBD does not activate it in that way. The mechanisms are explained in does CBD get you high?.

A "CBD" product is not pure CBD. A full-spectrum flower, resin or oil also contains THC, up to 0.30%. That THC is a narcotic, even in small amounts, and it is what tests look for.

At the wheel, article L235-1 of the Highway Code punishes driving after drug use with 3 years in prison and a €9,000 fine, with no minimum threshold. The Court of Cassation ruled on 21 June 2023 that the legality of the product bought makes no difference to the offence. The guide CBD and saliva tests explains the thresholds and detection times.

Another trap: semi-synthetic cannabinoids sold alongside CBD. The ANSM classified HHC as a narcotic from 13 June 2023, then H4CBD, THCP and other derivatives from 3 June 2024. A product that contains them is a narcotic, whatever the "CBD" label says. Their story is traced in our HHC timeline.