Products based on hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), a molecule derived from cannabis but currently on free sale in France, will be banned in France from Tuesday, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products announced on Monday ( ANSM). This decision follows work that has shown that HHC “presents a risk of abuse and dependence equivalent to that of cannabis”, underlined the ANSM in a press release.
Appearing on the drug market in the United States at the end of 2021, HHC was spotted for the first time in Europe in May 2022, during a seizure by customs officers, traces the observatory. Eight months later, it had been identified in more than 70% of EU member countries. Some European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark and the United Kingdom) have recently banned it. Since the first identification of HHC in Europe, two other synthetic cannabis have been detected on the continent: HHC-acetate (HHCO) and hexahydrocannabiphorol (HHCP).
“We have decided to include hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) and two of its derivatives, HHC-acetate (HHCO) and hexahydroxycannabiphorol (HHCP) on the list of narcotics. Thus, their production, sale and use in particular, are prohibited in France from June 13, 2023”, specified the ANSM. The Minister of Health François Braun had announced less than a month ago their upcoming ban. “As of tomorrow, the consumption and sale of HHC will be prohibited. My ministry is mobilized to protect the health of the French people and to fight against addictions”, he tweeted.
The ANSM based its decision on the work of the evaluation and information centers on pharmacodependency-addictovigilance. This work has shown that “the chemical structure of these products is close to that of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9 THC), classified as a narcotic”, according to the ANSM.
The molecule has been known to scientists for a long time but, for several months, the health authorities of different countries – Europe and the United States – have found that it is increasingly marketed on the internet or in physical stores. Its effects are poorly understood, but addictologists tend to consider them comparable to those of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the substance at the heart of the psychoactive effects of cannabis.
