It's amazing to live off your products! Jean-Marie Moello, who is enjoying the sunshine on his plot, exclaims "It's amazing to live off your products!" The former Breton truck driver, Jean-Marie Moello, has been growing legal cannabis, or CBD, for the past two decades. It is now exploding in France.
He didn't always know this work environment. Jean-Marie Moello (36), drove heavy goods vehicles for seven-years before he began a professional retraining program in parallel to his work on construction sites. The 30-year-old says bitumen "it doesn’t smell the same."
He was inspired to change his job after he saw a 2018 Facebook post. After overcoming obstacles and understanding the laws in force, Mr. Moello joined a small, but growing, club of CBD neo-cultivators.
He remarks that the market is so popular, he urges people to visit it. The new farmer says that his goal is to harvest 50 kilograms of flowers by October so that he can earn 50,000 euros. He will also stop driving heavy vehicles at the end.
According to the hemp union the number of growers has increased from 50 in 2018 to 600 today. Aurelien Delecroix is the union's president. "There are still many cannabis enthusiasts in France. We're not going hide it. Being able to grow marijuana legally has sparked lots of vocations," says Mr. Delecroix.
It is one and the same plant, hemp. The main difference between recreational marijuana and CBD, also known as "wellness" or "light cannabis", lies in the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol. This is the molecule that has psychoactive effects. In France, 0.3% of THC is the legal limit.
"The development of the number producers has been impeded by the regulatory and legal aspects. It is important to understand that producers were subject to a penalty for drug trafficking up until November 2020," says Aurelien Delecroix.
According to him, the "Kanavape scandal", an electronic cigarette containing CBD oil and a suspended sentence for its creators, was the tipping point.
The case is now before the Court of Justice of the European Union. Its judgment was delivered in November 2020. CBD cannot be considered to be a narcotic and has "no psychotropic effects or harmful effect on the health of the human body". France, which was forced to observe the principle of free movement of goods, can therefore not prohibit its marketing.
Jean-Marie Moello says that "the Kanavape affair remotivated and gave us hope" but regrets "the grey areas" regarding CBD legislation. The government had banned the sale of flowers in December before the Council of State reauthorized it.
The neofarmer says, "It's hard to project yourself." He continues, "I take it as it comes. But if the legislation becomes too restrictive, then I will return to the heavyweights."
"For the moment I am within my right and it makes me happy that I do good to people", Mr. Moello says. He cites as clients a man who has no ophthalmic migraines since he started taking CBD, and a woman who is less affected by osteoarthritis. It does the job, even though I'm not a doctor. He proudly proclaims,
Jean-Marie Moello remains cautious as he waits to see how legislation develops. Jean-Marie Moello is optimistic: "When you look at the current economic situation and the number of people who are suffering from it, I believe that CBD has bright futures."
