Benoît Hamon in favor of legalizing cannabis in France

Benoît Hamon, candidate for the left-wing primary and MP for Yvelines, has officially declared his support for the legalization of cannabis. He had already broached the subject on David Pujadas and Léa Salamé's Emission Politique, and recently clarified his remarks in a Youtube video.

Just like Jean Luc Mélenchon, Benoît Hamon chose Youtube to talk about legalization of cannabis in France. In this 3min30 video, Benoît Hamon tries, concisely, to explain his future cannabis policy.

Consumer health

In this video, Benoît Hamon stresses two points: the health of cannabis consumers and the hypocrisy of prohibition or decriminalization. Firstly, he points out that decriminalization does not tackle trafficking, and that this position is therefore untenable. He points to the example of Portugal, which has decriminalized all drugs but not cannabis. While overall consumption has fallen since the 2000s, drug sales are still controlled by street dealers.

Mr Hamon then turns to the subject of cannabis addiction. According to him, legalizing cannabis in France would enable us to do more to prevent addiction among young people, the target group most at risk. However, he did not go into detail about the support policy for problematic cannabis users.

In this respect, it could be noted that limiting THC levels does not directly combat addiction. If the THC levels imposed by law are too low, the black market will regain an advantage by producing more potent varieties and therefore more attractive to customers. On the other hand, the first steps taken in Canada open up the possibility of taxing cannabis according to its THC content, to dissuade consumers from opting for products that are too strong.

Global market

Benoit Hamon is the first candidate to speak openly of «recreational cannabis consumption». He also explains that he wants «open marketing» of cannabis. Of course, it's hard to explain a complete regulatory system in a few minutes when medical cannabis isn't even authorized in France, but a few details wouldn't hurt. What would be the framework for legalization? Would the market be open to companies? With a state monopoly? A more Spanish or American model?

A few marbles for next time Benoît

Benoît Hamon has clarified his position on the issue of cannabis in France. He was even a little more precise than in his last appearances (we'll call it good coaching 😉 ). If he were to expand on the subject, here are the questions that would be interesting to ask: What kind of cannabis distribution? Will legalization erase cannabis-related offenses from criminal records? What taxes should be levied on recreational cannabis? How should tax money be reinvested? What about the therapeutic use of cannabis? Why limit THC levels, and how much? Will self-cultivation be authorized? If so, how many plants per person?

Benoit Hamon has already set himself apart from his main rivals by supporting the recreational legalization of cannabis in France. However, it will take more than 3 minutes to submit this project to the French people, and the economic issues of legalization will inevitably have to be addressed at some point. The will is there, all that's missing is getting elected 🙂

Theo Caillart

To find out more : Cannabis and the 2017 presidential candidates