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At its meeting on 23 January 2023, the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (EESC) adopted a draft opinion on legislation banning the use and sale of recreational cannabis. Faced with the recognition of the failure of the repression policy, ESEC calls on the public authorities to “totally rethink” the cannabis issue by opening a broad debate within society. This draft opinion is based on a report presented by Florent Compain and Helno Eyriey.

Failure of repressive cannabis policies
“Despite the establishment of a prohibition system for more than 50 years, one of the most repressive in Europe, France is the EU country with the highest percentage of drug addicts” notes the “Cannabis” commission of the Economic Council, social and environmental.

The commission underlines the failure of repression in the face of cannabis use which does not decrease in France (45% of 15-64 year olds have already used cannabis at least once in their life, compared to 27% in France). The flat-rate fine (for drug use) introduced in 2019 has generated an even higher number of cases (210,000 cases per year against an average of 180,000 since 2015). In the districts most affected by trafficking, the commission underlines a phenomenon of “cartelisation”: the traffickers take on a social function instead of the usual public services and social actors.

In the current situation, three main achievements are highlighted by the commission:
– minors and young adults – the most exposed – do not benefit from preventive measures;
– the products consumed which concentrate an increasingly high level of THC (the active molecule of cannabis) are not controlled;
– the criminalization of consumption mobilizes a large number of forces of order and justice without being able to combat trafficking.

Promote prevention of repression
In response to this acknowledgment of failure, the report’s authors make a number of recommendations, some of which should be implemented urgently:
– give greater importance to prevention to limit the risks for minors and young adults;
– no longer penalize the use and cultivation of cannabis for personal use;
– remove the crimes of use and possession perpetrated by users from the criminal record and from the police archives;
– review cannabis screening while driving, which can now detect use several days before the check.

The committee also calls for:
– supervise the cannabis market by controlling the quality of processed products (hemp sector);
– develop highly controlled, licensed outlets open to adults only.
These outlets should display the THC levels of the products and be accompanied by preventive public health messages.

(Public life from 31/01/2023)

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