Until then sold freely, products based on hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), a molecule derived from cannabis, will be banned from Tuesday June 13 in France, the health authorities considering that they present “an equivalent risk of abuse and dependence to that of a narcotic.
The Medicines Agency has now classified HHC as a narcotic. It had been booming for a few months, and some European countries have already taken it off the shelves, such as Austria, Belgium and Denmark.
HHC was already in all the shop windows of CBD, another derivative of cannabis, in the form of flowers, candies, or liquids for electronic cigarettes. But, unlike CBD, HHC poses a real risk of addiction, according to new studies. Some addictologists even consider the effects superior to THC, the substance responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis.
In France, around thirty people ended up in the emergency room after consuming HHC, according to the addictovigileance network. He estimates that a detected case hides nearly a hundred others, which pass under the radar.
Discomfort, nausea, tachycardia or vomiting… On social networks, consumers speak of a “zombie state”.
The production, sale and use of HHC will be prohibited from Tuesday, June 13. In a tweet, the Minister of Health François Braun welcomed the mobilization of his ministry ” to protect the health of French people and fight against addictions “.
As promised, HHC has been assessed and is now classified as narcotic by the@ansm. From tomorrow, the consumption and sale of HHC will be prohibited. my ministry @Sante_Gouv is mobilized to protect the health of French people and fight against addictions.
— Francois Braun (@FrcsBraun) June 12, 2023
Appearing on the drug market in the United States at the end of 2021, HHC was first spotted in Europe in May 2022, during a customs seizure, according to the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Eight months later, it had been identified in more than 70% of EU member countries.
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