Industry shutdown or doom and gloom? The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM) announced this Thursday that several new cannabinoid chemicals will be banned from sale and consumption from June 3rd. In particular, on this list we find H4CBD, a CBD derivative present in the “gummies” that sent a group of friends to the hospital while celebrating Christmas together in Paris at the end of December last year. “I thought I was dying, I saw the lights, I said to myself: It’s over, I won’t see my children anymore… “Camilla, one of them, confessed to us.
This decision – expected – was made after the Centers for Evaluation and Information Surveillance of Drug Abuse (CEIP-A) received “reports of use leading to serious consequences”: loss of consciousness, coma, convulsions, severe anxiety, tachycardia, etc. d.
Sold online and in CBD stores.
“These effects are often more intense than those experienced with cannabis and may require urgent attention from medical professionals, especially in the case of synthetic cannabinoids,” warns ANSM.
To be precise, “since September 2023, 90 cases have been recorded following the use of cannabinoids, in particular H4CBD,” points out Agnès Laforest-Bruneau, Deputy Director of the ANSM Supervision Department. 40% of them resulted in a trip to the emergency room or hospitalization. Some users also become addicted.
In addition to H4CBD, other cannabinoids formed from the same nucleus will now be prohibited: H2CBD, HHCPO, THCP, THCA, etc. But there are also purely chemical products, often with barbaric names: 5F-cumyl-pegaclone, cumyl-CH-megaclone, BZO-hexoxyside, etc.
All these substances are sold online and in CBD stores, easily accessible in Paris and major cities, with tempting marketing slogans. They come in the form of resin, herbs, lozenges, powder, or even e-liquid that can be ingested or smoked. But their possible danger cannot be detected.
The consumer now risks receiving up to one year in prison and a fine of €3,750, with the option of paying a lump sum of just €200.
“It’s a constant game of cat and mouse”
But the authorities know this: when products are listed as drugs and therefore prohibited, others are already synthesized… Or even available on the Internet. A year ago, the ANSM also classified HHC and two of its derivatives as “drugs.” “It’s a constant game of cat and mouse,” explains Dr. Bruno Revol of the Grenoble Surveillance Center for Drug Addiction.
“When new synthetic cannabinoids come to market, the goal of those selling them is to offer psychoactive substances that are not, at least not yet, illegal. As a result, there has been no research, no mode of action, no effects, and the consumer is a guinea pig in real life,” Nicolas Authier, a psychiatrist specializing in pharmacology and addiction at the University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand. (Puy de Dome).
“We define the chemical structure to cover a family of substances that pose the same risk to the consumer,” points out Agnès Laforest-Bruneau. And he added: “But vigilance, of course, remains, one of the tasks of ANSM is to monitor the emergence of new substances. »
Source: Le Parisien
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