Delta-9 THC in France: legal status, 0.30% and medical use

Δ⁹-THC is a cannabinoid, one of the molecules specific to hemp. Yehiel Gaoni and Raphael Mechoulam established its structure in 1964 and were the first to describe its isolation and stereochemistry. The "9" gives the position of a double bond in the molecule. With the bond at position 8, the molecule becomes Δ⁸-THC, an isomer present in trace amounts.

The plant contains almost no THC in its active form. It produces THCA, the acidic form, which heat converts into THC in a process called decarboxylation. This explains the two lines on a certificate of analysis, Δ⁹-THC and THCA, and the calculation of a total THC figure. Our article on THCA covers this raw form, and the one on the differences between THC and CBD compares the two molecules.

According to the OFDT, the French drugs observatory, cannabis seized in France in 2024 contained on average 14.3% THC for herb and 29.6% for resin, about 48 and 99 times the hemp limit.

Three texts work together. Under article L5132-7 of the Public Health Code, the ANSM, the French medicines agency, has the power to list narcotics. The order of 22 February 1990 sets the list, and its annex IV covers "tetrahydrocannabinols, their esters, ethers, salts". The third text, article R5132-86, prohibits the production, sale and use of cannabis, its resin and tetrahydrocannabinols, "natural or synthetic", as well as "the products that contain them".

Because the term is generic, it covers Δ⁸-THC and the other isomers without naming them. The risks of that isomer are described in our article on delta-8 THC.

Use is punishable by one year in prison and a €3,750 fine, or by an on-the-spot criminal fine of €500 since 20 August 2026. Possessing, acquiring or bringing in a THC product from abroad falls under articles 222-36 and 222-37 of the Criminal Code: up to 10 years in prison and a €7,500,000 fine.

Using the drug has itself been an offence since the law of 31 December 1970 on combating drug addiction. The table gives the maximum penalties as at 20 October 2026, not the sentences courts usually hand down.

Ordinance No 2025-1091, which rewrites the Code of Criminal Procedure, will update the references in article L3421-1 to that code when it enters into force, scheduled for 1 January 2029, without changing the amounts. The €200 still quoted on several websites is the on-the-spot fine that applied before 20 August 2026.

The order of 30 December 2021, adopted under article R5132-86 as worded at the time, authorises Cannabis sativa L. varieties listed in the EU or French catalogues whose Δ⁹-THC content "is not higher than 0.30%". It applies that cap to extracts and to the products that contain them, and it replaced the order of 22 August 1990, which had set the limit at 0.20%. Since 19 February 2022, the exemption for industrial hemp has sat in article R5132-86-1, created by a decree of 17 February 2022, which covers varieties "devoid of narcotic properties".

The switch to 0.30% brought France into line with the European Union. Since 1 January 2023, Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 on the common agricultural policy has granted hemp subsidies only to varieties with no more than 0.3% THC. The Conseil d'État then struck down the ban on selling raw flowers and leaves on 29 December 2022, leaving the limit in place.

THC stays illegal under this limit. The rule tolerates a residual presence in a hemp product, and a product designed for its psychoactive effect is still a narcotic. Whether the level is measured as Δ⁹-THC alone or as total THC is explained in our article on the legal THC level.

No, not when THC has been added to them. The 0.30% cap covers both the hemp extract and the product that contains it, and a food with added THC is not an authorised food. The detail by format is in our article on swallowed THC.

Online shops offer gummies, syrups or cookies labelled "D9" or "legal THC", at under 0.3% "on the finished product" or "on dry extract". Three texts and one official position stand against that claim:

• article R5132-86 prohibits tetrahydrocannabinols and "the products that contain them";
• article R5132-86-1 makes an exemption only for varieties "devoid of narcotic properties" and for products containing them;
• the order of 30 December 2021 (article 1, III) caps the extract as well as the product, "without prejudice" to food law, and never mentions "dry extract";
• on 20 May 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture recalled that only seeds, their oil and leaves intended for infusion may be sold as food, provided they meet the maximum THC levels and are not enriched with cannabinoids, THC or other narcotics.

The arithmetic confirms it. If all the THC in a product labelled at 0.25% came from a compliant hemp extract, at 0.30% at most, that extract would have to make up more than four fifths of the product: in practice, the extract itself therefore exceeds 0.30%. This calculation involves only percentages and illustrates the legal rule.

We found no French court decision on these "D9" products: this answer rests on the texts and the official positions. The same framework applies to fast-acting THC gummies and CBN + THC gummies.

The European Union sets no "permitted" amount of THC in a gummy or a syrup. It excludes narcotics from the definition of food, uses an acute reference dose of 1 µg of Δ⁹-THC per kilo of body weight and caps THC only in the hemp foods it accepts.

Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 excludes from the notion of food "narcotic or psychotropic substances" within the meaning of the United Nations conventions of 1961 and 1971, and its article 14 prohibits placing unsafe food on the market. Under the Commission's Novel Food catalogue, hemp extracts with non-psychoactive cannabinoids and synthetic cannabinoids must be authorised before any sale. In September 2026, MILDECA, the French interministerial drugs mission, stated that a food exposing consumers to more than the reference dose is unsafe and must be withdrawn and recalled.

In 2020, EFSA found the ARfD exceeded in adult high consumers of most hemp foods. Equivalents add Δ⁹-THC and 0.877 times THCA. The hemp limit is 1,000 times the seed limit, as our articles on hemp and recreational cannabis and on hemp seed oil show. On novel food status, see the withdrawal of CBD gummies and the 2026 regulations.

From 2022 onwards, shops sold semi-synthetic cannabinoids, made in a laboratory from CBD, which the list did not yet cover. The ANSM listed HHC, HHCO and HHCP from 13 June 2023. A decision of 22 May 2024 then added, from 3 June 2024, H4CBD, H2CBD and a whole chemical family, the benzo[c]chromene derivatives, among them HHCPO, THCP and THCA.

THCA calls for a closer look. A decision of 3 June 2024 removed CBN and CBNA from this listing, together with the THCV, THCVA and THCA present in hemp products, provided their THC content complies with the 0.3% limit. A compliant CBD flower therefore contains THCA and is not a narcotic, while a THCA-enriched product whose THC exceeds the limit is one. Our article on HHC gives the full timeline.

Δ⁹-THC acts mainly through the CB1 receptor, which carries the high and the faster heartbeat. Since 2024, the ANSM and Anses, the French food safety agency, have reported a rise in poisonings linked to products sold as CBD, in shops or online, whose real composition often fails to match the label.

A partial agonist of the CB1 and CB2 receptors of the endocannabinoid system (Pertwee, 2008), THC produces its psychoactive and cardiac effects through CB1: in a trial in 63 men, an antagonist of this receptor, at its highest dose, cut the felt effect by 38 to 43% and the rise in heart rate by 59% (Huestis et al., 2001).

The alert of 19 June 2025 counts several hundred poisonings since early 2024, mostly caused by THC above 0.3% or by undeclared synthetic cannabinoids. Symptoms range from drowsiness and nausea to tachycardia, hallucinations or loss of consciousness, and products labelled "strong" are the subject of a warning. In a study by the CEIP-A addiction-monitoring centres funded by MILDECA and published in 2023, 12.6% of the 223 products sold as CBD contained more than 0.3% THC.

Swallowed THC acts late, which can push people to take more before they feel the effect. For a child, accidental ingestion can be serious: keep these products out of reach, as our article on CBD at home points out.

If life is at risk, call 15 or 112; deaf or hard-of-hearing people contact 114 by SMS, app or internet. Otherwise, the ANSM advises seeing a doctor or calling a poison centre (01 45 42 59 59), reporting on signalement.social-sante.gouv.fr and keeping the product for SINTES analysis. In the long term, THC can also lead to strong dependence: Drogues Info Service answers on 0 800 23 13 13, anonymously and free of charge, and our article on cannabis and mental health covers these risks.

French pharmacies sell no THC medicine. Sativex, a THC and CBD spray for spasticity in multiple sclerosis, obtained its marketing authorisation in 2014. In 2023 the government confirmed that it has never been marketed: no additional impact on morbidity, mortality or quality of life had been shown, and the price negotiations opened with the manufacturer in 2015 failed.

Dronabinol, a synthetic THC sold as Marinol, is still available case by case. The ANSM grants named-patient compassionate access authorisations, notably for neuropathic pain once other treatments have failed. The medicine has no marketing authorisation in France.

France's medical cannabis trial took in its first patient on 26 March 2021 and closed on 31 December 2024. Patients already being treated carry on in a transition phase, extended until 31 December 2026. The permanent framework is still waiting for its texts, and our article on medical cannabis in 2026 follows the timetable. For CBD, the only authorised medicine is Epidyolex, limited to three rare forms of epilepsy.

Two institutions have recommended a change in the law, and no legislation has followed so far. In May 2021 an interim report by a fact-finding mission of the Assemblée nationale called for "regulated legalisation" of so-called recreational cannabis. On 24 January 2023 the Economic, Social and Environmental Council voted 87 to 25, with 16 abstentions, for an opinion in favour of controlled legalisation.

Neither opinion is binding. In October 2026 Δ⁹-THC remains a narcotic, and recent changes point to tougher rules: heavier drug-driving penalties and a higher on-the-spot fine. Our article on French cannabis law and its figures sets out the context.

Article L235-1 of the Highway Code has punished driving after drug use with 3 years in prison and a €9,000 fine since the law of 9 July 2025. No tolerance threshold applies: a blood or saliva test establishing use is enough. Drivers also lose six points and face suspension of their licence for up to 5 years, or its cancellation.

Refusing the roadside saliva test leads to a saliva or blood sample, according to Service-public. Refusing those checks is a separate offence, punished under article L235-3 by 3 years in prison, a €9,000 fine, six points removed and up to 3 years of suspension.

In a ruling of 21 June 2023, the Cour de cassation applied this to CBD products: the offence is made out "regardless of the dose absorbed", even when the product was sold legally. The detection thresholds of the tests are in our guide to CBD and drug testing, and the 2025 law in our article on CBD and driving.