Cannabis connoisseurs in Paris queued up to get their hands on low-THC cannabis last week, when the French capital’s first coffee shops opened their doors.

E-Klop is located on the 2nd arrondissement and Cofyshop can be found on the 11th arrondissement. The owners of these Paris coffee shops are enticing Parisian pot lovers with a broad selection of hemp products. Specializing in CBD, the shops are stirring up mixed opinions from local communities.

Paris coffee shops will sell low-THC products

Despite the low THC content of the hemp products being sold inside the Paris coffee shops, users can expect to feel relaxed after using them.

“There’s no psychotropic effect. It isn’t a medicine or a relaxant. I wouldn’t advise anyone to smoke cannabis. We sell it like any other item, just like a furniture shop sells tables or chairs,” said the 29-year-old owner of Cofyshop, Joaquim Lousquy.

Since Cofyshop opened on June 5, the store has been forcefully shut down on more than one occasion, due to running out of stock.

For 10 to 12 Euro per gram, customers can buy a ‘CBD’ version of cannabis from Lousquy’s store. It’s not just bud and leaf that customers can get their hands on but also, oils, syrups and tea preparations.

Stéphane Bélaiche is the owner of E-Klop. She claims that the CBD products inside her store are not for smoking but instead, they are created for “another flavor to enjoy.”

Not everyone is convinced, however.

“I want to find out if the stuff they’re selling gets you stoned. In theory, it has less than 0.2 percent THC, but I’ve heard it contains more CBD [cannabidiol, a legal cannabinoid] and that should have an effect, at least to make you feel relaxed,” said a 21-year-old customer called Marc.

Concerns over the use of cannabis as a medicine

Although CBD products have been studied for their efficacy to relieve pain and anxiety, the topic is incredibly controversial.

According to the French Health Authority, the cannabis plant has “no therapeutic benefit may be claimed by the makers or vendors or any product containing CBD.”

The opening of Paris’ coffee shops has not been well received by some of the local residents, such as 72-year-old Marlène.

“It smells of hashish in the street and it wafts up into our flat,” he said to Le Parisien.

Cofyshop was visited by MP for President Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party, Pacôme Rupin, just last week. According to Rupin, the shop going-ons were being watched closely by the authorities.