2 ng/ml at the wheel? What France’s CBD bill actually proposes
The figure sounds like a new legal limit. It is only a proposal. On 8 October 2026, France’s Senate received a bill covering CBD products. It includes a possible road traffic exemption: THC in a driver’s blood would not automatically constitute the offence under Article L.235-1 of the French Highway Code if it came from the hemp flowers defined in the bill and the concentration were no higher than 2 nanograms per millilitre of blood.
The text is not law. The Senate’s legislative file currently lists it as a bill introduced for first reading.
What would change?
Article 5 would add a new Article L.235-1-1 to the Highway Code. The proposed exemption is narrow. It applies to THC resulting from consumption of the products defined under Article L.3514-7, and only when the blood concentration is at or below 2 ng/ml.
Article 1 defines those products as raw hemp flowers from Cannabis sativa L. with THC below the national and European threshold in force. The definition would apply regardless of how the flowers are presented, prepared or consumed. The wording does not create a blanket exemption for every CBD oil, cosmetic or medical cannabis product.
The bill does not explain how a driver would prove that a positive THC result came from one of these products. Nor does it set out a procedure for police or laboratories to identify the source of THC. Those details would matter to how the proposal worked in practice.
More than a driving rule
The bill would also create a digital traceability register for the defined hemp products. Producers and importers would have to register and provide information such as origin, varieties, volumes and stocks. Packaging would show the product’s origin and batch number, alongside information about sales to minors. Vending machine sales would also require an effective age check.
The proposal links traceability, retail rules and road traffic law. Whether it becomes law, and whether its wording changes during parliamentary review, remain open questions.
