French Senate bill would regulate CBD: hemp registry, shop permits, driving limit
rawpixel, CC0
Some links on this page are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes our scores. How we review
On 8 October 2026, seventeen senators from the ecologist group, led by Guillaume Gontard, filed a bill in the French Senate to regulate the production, traceability, distribution and some uses of CBD products. The text is not law. It has not been voted on, and none of its rules apply today.
What the bill would change
The bill would set up a computerised hemp registry, the “casier chanvrier informatisé”. Producers and importers would declare their plots, varieties, volumes, origins and stocks, and each lot would get a unique registration (Senate bill page).
It would also put CBD shops under a permit. Before opening, a shop owner would need an operating permit (permis d’exploitation), which follows training on the rules, the protection of minors, traceability and legal responsibilities. The owner would declare the shop to local authorities 15 days before opening (Senate bill page). Permits would be issued by the town hall, except in Paris, where the police prefecture would issue them (Kohen Avocats).
- Complete the training the bill requires
- Get the operating permit from the town hall (Paris: police prefecture)
- Declare the shop to local authorities 15 days before opening
The driving threshold
Article 5 of the bill says that THC from regulated CBD products would not count as a driving offence if the blood concentration is 2 nanograms per millilitre or less (Senate bill page). This is a legal threshold for drivers. It is not guidance on use, and it does not say that driving after use is safe.
Where the bill stands
The bill was filed on 8 October 2026 and referred to the Senate’s Social Affairs Committee. No vote has taken place in public session, and the National Assembly has not been seized (Senate bill page; Kohen Avocats). Hanf Magazin reported the filing the same week (Hanf Magazin).
- FranceToleratedBill not in force. A French lawyer's analysis says CBD produced elsewhere in the EU is tolerated for sale but legally vulnerable without strict documentation.
- 8 October: bill filed at the Senate by seventeen senators led by Guillaume Gontard
- Referred to the Senate Social Affairs Committee; no public vote yet
What we could not check
We read the Senate’s bill page, including Article 5 as summarised there. We did not read the full bill text article by article. We could not check the parliamentary calendar, so we do not know whether or when the Senate will debate it.
Why it matters
The bill is about shops, registration and driving rules. Until it is adopted, it changes none of the rules in force. For the wider European picture, our guide to CBD in the Netherlands shows how the Dutch rules handle similar questions.
