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CANNABIS

‘Absurd’ not to consider legalising medicinal cannabis says French PM

Will France join the list of countries that allow cannabis for therapeutic purposes? For Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, it would be "absurd" to refrain from studying the possibility.

Published: 5 April 2019 17:15 CEST
'Absurd' not to consider legalising medicinal cannabis says French PM
Cannabis could be cultivated for medical purposes in a trial in Creuse. Photo: AFP

“There are many countries working on this, many countries that allow it. It would be absurd not to ask the question and it is in this spirit that we want to work with the project leaders,” Philippe explained on Friday during a trip to the central French department of Creuse.

Creuse, between Limoges and Clemont-Ferrand, is one of the poorest areas in France and there are now plans to develop a therapeutic cannabis cultivation project there.

“What the project leaders said was that we should not refrain from imagining the therapeutic use of the molecules contained in this plant,” continued Philippe, as reported in Le Parisien. “So, obviously, we must be able to think about innovating, experimenting. But it is not at all a question of endangering public health […] We want to do things in a very controlled way.”

A total of 21 countries in the European Union have already legalised cannabis for therapeutic use, but France remains outside this group.

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WEATHER

IN PICTURES: French town hit by freak June hailstorm

A French town has been hit by a freak hailstorm that left locals clearing drifts of ice in the streets with shovels and snow ploughs.

Published: 29 June 2021 16:44 CEST
IN PICTURES: French town hit by freak June hailstorm
Photo: Sapeurs-pompiers des Vosges

The hail struck the town of Plombières-les-Bains in the Vosges mountains on Tuesday morning.

Romain Munier, head of communications for the local emergency services, told French media: “There were up to 60 centimetres of accumulated hail” while in the wider area, “up to 10 millimetres of water accumulated in six minutes”.

https://twitter.com/timbaland57/status/1409881345741012994

Locals were pictured clearing the street of ice with shovels and snow ploughs after the storm passed and the fire and rescue crews for the Vosges area said they had received 56 callouts in total.

Large areas of France are on weather alert for storms until Thursday, as a ‘cold drop’ passes over the country leading to extremely unsettled weather.

In most areas, however, the storms will be confined to heavy rain and thunder.

In neighbouring Switzerland, the Swiss news agency ATS reported giant hailstones up to seven centimetres wide in the canton of Lucerne.

In the canton of Fribourg, the police and fire brigade were called 300 times, including to rescue a class of 16 children and two adults caught in the hail.

Six of the children and one adult were taken to hospital.

At least five people were injured in the German-speaking Swiss cantons, including a cyclist who suffered head injuries from hailstones, according to ATS, whilst in Germany severe flooding has hit parts of the country including Stuttgart.

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