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 Based on the free trade of goods within the European Union, the Cour
de cassation ruled that judges could not find the sale of CBD in
France illegal if it had been legally produced in a member state of
the bloc.
The Court of Justice of the EU ruled last year that no national law
can prohibit the sale of CBD legally produced in a member state, the
French court also said.
"Without considering whether the substances seized had not been
legally produced in another member state of the European Union, the
court failed to provide a basis for its decision," it said,
referring to a ruling of a lower appeals court.
The Cour de cassation did not rule whether selling CBD in France was
legal or not, and ordered a lower court to rule again on a case
involving the owner of a shop selling CBD.
"We are happy", CBD shop owner Mathieu Bensa, who was not involved
in the case, told Reuters after the ruling.
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 "We did not understand why
France was the last country in the European
Union that had not given access to the sale of
hemp plants", he said.
Derived mainly from the hemp plant, CBD is
increasingly used as a relaxant.
Cannabis stocks have attracted growing interest
on world stock markets, particularly on the
Toronto stock exchange after Canada became one
of the first major economies to legalise the
recreational use of marijuana.
Cannabis use is outlawed in France but the
country has one of Europe's highest consumption
rates.
(Reporting by Matthieu Protard, Benoit Van
Overstraeten and Ardee Napolitano; Editing by
Mark Potter)
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