Stopped by French police with CBD: what the test can't tell

Law no. 2026-798 of 18 August 2026, known as the RIPOST law, was published in the Journal officiel no. 192 on 19 August. Its article 25 raises the fixed criminal fine (amende forfaitaire délictuelle, AFD) for drug use from 200 to 500 €. According to the service-public.fr page updated on 21 August 2026, it drops to 400 € if you pay within 15 days and rises to 1,000 € if nothing is paid after 45 days. You can challenge it within those 45 days. Paying ends the prosecution, closes any challenge and leaves an entry on your criminal record.

In court, drug use is still punishable by one year in prison and a 3,750 € fine. The same article 25 adds a possible penalty: suspension of your driving licence for up to 3 years, even when driving has nothing to do with it.

What does not change: the hemp threshold. The decree of 30 December 2021 authorises hemp varieties whose Δ⁹-THC content does not exceed 0.30%, along with their extracts and the products that contain them. A CBD flower or CBD resin under that limit is not a narcotic, and the fixed fine does not apply to it. Where the figure comes from is explained in our article on the legal THC level.

Not at the level that matters. By sight and smell, a CBD flower and a cannabis flower look alike. And colour tests react to cannabinoids, not to THC alone.

The forensic science department of the US state of Virginia puts it plainly: the Duquenois-Levine test, a classic, cannot distinguish marijuana from industrial hemp. A newer test, called 4-AP, gives an indication: pink when CBD dominates, blue when THC dominates.

Its validation, published in 2021 in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, sets out its limit. Pink appears when THC is about three times less abundant than CBD, blue when it is about three times more. In between, the result is inconclusive. The test compares two molecules. It does not measure a percentage.

A worked example shows the problem. A flower with 10% CBD and 0.2% THC turns pink. So does a flower with 10% CBD and 0.6% THC, although it is twice the legal limit. Even after a pink result, the Virginia laboratory calls for a lab analysis whenever the case depends on the 0.3% threshold. We do not know which kits each French police unit uses, but the chemistry is the same.

The table follows a stop on foot, in the street, with a CBD product on you. Not every step necessarily takes place.

Seizure rests on article 56 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which covers objects useful for establishing the truth. Return falls under article 41-4 of the same code: the prosecutor decides, on their own initiative or on request. They may refuse, for example if returning the item would create a danger, and that refusal can be challenged within one month of notification.

The fixed fine is issued through an electronic report, without going before a judge. If you receive one for a product you know complies, do not pay it by reflex: you have 45 days to challenge it. A lawyer can tell you whether that is the right route in your case.

The rules in the table come from the service-public.fr pages on identity checks and on pat-downs and searches. If you are held for an identity verification, you can have the prosecutor and a person of your choice informed.

Drug use is punishable by imprisonment, so police custody (garde à vue) is legally possible under article 62-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It lasts 24 hours and can be renewed. According to the police custody page, you are entitled to a lawyer from the start, a doctor, an interpreter, and to have a relative informed. You may also remain silent; only your identity must be declared.

The fixed fine does not apply to minors or to legal reoffending: article 495-17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure excludes it.

No rule requires you to go out with proof. But a product in its original packaging is easier to discuss than an unlabelled bag.

• The original packaging, with the product name, the seller and, if shown, the batch number.
• Proof of purchase: invoice, receipt or order confirmation email, on paper or on your phone.
• A small quantity. If the product is found to be a narcotic, a large quantity rules out the fixed fine, service-public.fr states, and the case goes to court.

An invoice proves you bought a product sold as CBD. It does not prove its THC level. An analysis published by a seller describes a batch, not the sample seized: in a dispute, the official analysis is what counts. Our laboratory page explains how to read an analysis.

Watch out too for "CBD" products enriched with HHC, H4CBD or THCP: they are narcotics, whatever their THC level. Our article is CBD a drug? traces these classifications.

On foot, the question is the product you are carrying. At the wheel, it is also what is in your body. Saliva screening looks for THC, never CBD, and a full-spectrum product legally contains a little.

The Court of Cassation ruled on 21 June 2023 that the authorisation to sell certain hemp derivatives has no bearing on the offence of driving after drug use. That offence carries 3 years in prison and a 9,000 € fine, as our article on CBD and driving explains. Detection windows are covered in the guide CBD and saliva tests.