Should cannabis be legalized in France?

Legalization, decriminalization, prohibition? This debate around cannabis is almost as old as its prohibition in France in the 1970s. At the time, most European states initiated a repressive policy vis-à-vis drug consumption and trafficking. Smoking cannabis is still prohibited in many countries today.

But in recent years, that has changed. If only in 2021 the coalition leading the new German government announced that it would legalize cannabis in the country. Malta has become the first in Europe to legalize cannabis, and Luxembourg has presented a legislative package that would allow the cultivation of cannabis at home and its consumption in the private sphere.

In France, it is rather the opposite trend. The money spent on combating drug trafficking has doubled in the last ten years, and the use of cannabis is constantly on the rise. So much so that the French are the first consumers of cannabis in Europe.

So could a less repressive approach make a difference, or would it encourage consumption more? What do the experiences of the countries that have made this choice tell us?

Sources:

• “Fifty years of penal response to the use of narcotics (1970-2020)”Obradovic et al. French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT).
• “Cannabis: the risks of repression”Marie Jauffret-Roustide and Jean-Maxence Granier, Spirit.
• “Should cannabis be legalized in France? A socio-economic assessment », Christian Ben Lakhdar and Pierre Kopp, Economics & Forecasting.
• “Status Report of the Parliamentary Fact-Finding Mission on Recreational Cannabis”Caroline Janvier and Jean-Baptiste Moreau.
• “Decriminalization of drugs in Portugal: assessment twenty years later”Ivana Obradovic and Marguerite de Saint-Vincent, OFDT.
• “Cannabis, how to regain control? »Emmanuel Auriol and Pierre-Yves Geoffard, Economic Analysis Council.
• “Cannabis legalization – Canada’s experience”Gibbs et al.Public First.
• “The ban on the sale of tobacco to minors: a measure largely unenforced”BVA Institute for the National Committee against Smoking (CNCT).