Disposable CBD vapes banned in France: the 2025 law
Yes, disposable CBD vapes ("puffs") may not be sold in France since 26 February 2025. Law no. 2025-175 of 24 February 2025 bans any prefilled vaping device that cannot be refilled, whatever liquid it contains. CBD is not the target: refillable kits, cartridge pods and other CBD products remain on sale, below the 0.30% THC limit.
Contents
> Key takeaways > > - The legal test is the format: prefilled and impossible to refill, with or without a rechargeable battery. > - Prefilled cartridges are exempt from the ban, and so are tank kits. > - Sellers face a €100,000 fine, €200,000 for a repeat offence. A buyer who owns a puff is not targeted. > - A CBD vape still may not be sold to minors, like any vaping product. > - A "CBD" puff containing HHC, H4CBD or THCP also falls under narcotics law.
What the law of 24 February 2025 says, word for word
The law has a single article. It adds article L3513-5-1 to the French Public Health Code. Its core: holding for sale, selling, distributing or giving away vaping devices "which are prefilled with a liquid and cannot be refilled, whether or not they have a rechargeable battery" is prohibited. The last sentence matters just as much: "This ban does not apply to cartridges."
The text was published in the Journal officiel of 25 February 2025 and has applied since the following day. It started as a private member's bill adopted by the National Assembly on 4 December 2023, then by the Senate on 7 February 2024. The Senate voted the final text on 13 February 2025, after a joint committee of both chambers.
Why does a CBD puff fall under it? Because the code defines vaping devices as products used to inhale a vapour "containing nicotine where applicable". Nicotine is therefore not a condition. A flavoured puff, a CBD puff or one with no active ingredient at all is covered by the same article.
What is still allowed for vaping CBD
Two formats remain on sale. The tank kit, which the user fills with an e-liquid. And the pod that takes prefilled cartridges, since the law expressly exempts cartridges. The battery changes nothing: a puff whose battery charges over USB is still banned if its liquid cannot be replaced.
| Device | Prefilled | Can be refilled | Status since 26 February 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disposable puff (rechargeable battery or not) | Yes | No | Sale banned |
| Pod with prefilled cartridges | The cartridge, yes | Cartridge replaced | Allowed |
| Tank kit | No | Yes | Allowed |
| Flower or resin vaporiser | No | Chamber filled by hand | Outside the law's scope |
A dry-herb vaporiser is not a liquid vape: it heats a flower or a resin without burning it. Our guide to vaporisation temperatures explains how to use one. For e-liquids, reading the dosage in mg/ml lets you compare bottles, and the article on choosing your hardware covers coil resistance and power.
The other vaping rules still apply to CBD. Article L3513-5 of the same code bans the sale of any vaping product to under-18s, whether or not the liquid contains nicotine. Our article on CBD and minors covers the other products.
Who risks what: sellers, platforms, consumers
The penalty targets the commercial chain. Article L3515-3 of the Public Health Code punishes manufacturing, holding for sale, selling, distributing or giving away a disposable vape with a €100,000 fine. A repeat offence is punished with €200,000. For a company, the Penal Code allows the fine to be multiplied by five, up to €500,000, as the Réunion prefecture points out.
Checks fall in particular to the consumer-fraud officers of the DGCCRF, whom the law expressly empowers to record these offences. A foreign website shipping puffs to France is selling in France: the ban on offering them for sale applies to it just as it does to a physical shop.
The consumer is not targeted. The text punishes neither possession for your own use nor using a puff bought before 26 February 2025. Passing one on, even for free, does however count as distribution.
Why lawmakers targeted the format, not CBD
The stated reasons are young people's health and waste. The Senate social affairs committee report notes that disposable vapes made up 30% of notified products at the end of 2023, against less than 4% at the end of 2021. It cites a survey in which 15% of 13-16 year olds had already used a puff. On the environmental side, the report points to lithium batteries thrown away with the device and hard to recycle.
Nothing in this text concerns the molecule. The CBD framework is set elsewhere: the order of 30 December 2021 allows hemp whose finished product contains no more than 0.30% Δ⁹-THC. Our article on the legal THC level explains this threshold and how it is measured. A CBD e-liquid must comply with it, in a disposable device as in a kit.
The real risk of "CBD" puffs: what is inside
Between 2022 and 2024, the puff was a common format for semi-synthetic cannabinoids sold as "alternatives" to CBD. The French medicines agency ANSM classified HHC and two derivatives as narcotics from 13 June 2023, then H4CBD, THCP and other molecules from 3 June 2024. A device containing them stays banned, refillable or not, and possessing it now falls under narcotics law.
The label is not enough to tell. Only a certificate of analysis for the batch, testing for these molecules, can confirm it. Our timeline of the HHC ban traces these classifications, and the guide to reading a certificate of analysis shows where to look for them on the document.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still use a CBD puff bought before February 2025?
Yes. The law bans selling, distributing and holding for sale. It does not punish possession for personal use. Reselling it or giving it away, however, falls under the ban.
Is a CBD puff with a rechargeable battery allowed?
No, if its liquid cannot be replaced. The text targets prefilled devices that cannot be refilled, "whether or not they have a rechargeable battery".
Are CBD cartridge pods banned?
No. Article L3513-5-1 states that the ban does not apply to cartridges. A pod whose prefilled cartridge you replace remains on sale.
What fine does a seller of disposable puffs face?
A €100,000 fine, or €200,000 for a repeat offence, under article L3515-3 of the Public Health Code. A company faces up to five times these amounts.
Does this law change the THC level allowed in CBD?
No. It only concerns the device format. The limit of 0.30% Δ⁹-THC in the finished product is still set by the order of 30 December 2021.
Written by the Phytogrammes team
Every article in this journal draws on primary sources (ANSM, EFSA, EUR-Lex, peer-reviewed publications) and on the lab's own practice: batch-by-batch HPLC analyses, measured cannabinoid profiles. Our approach.
Article published on . CBD is not a medicine.