Cannaparade: Benoît Hamon defends the rationality of cannabis legalization

After taking part in the Cannaparade last Saturday, Benoît Hamon filmed a short video in the Paris metro in which he presents the legalization of cannabis as «the only rational solution in terms of public health and the fight against drug trafficking.» The video is available on social media.

A Rational Approach

In this short video, Benoît Hamon advocates for a pragmatic approach to cannabis policy. He supports the legalization of cannabis primarily because he believes it will yield better results than the prohibitionist policies currently in place. In terms of public health, this would allow for «identifying, supporting, and understanding» users, thereby better treating and reducing addiction; but it would also improve public safety by «preventing deaths, gang wars, and neighborhood conflicts that can arise over control of the cannabis trade.».

«Legalizing cannabis is the rational, reasonable solution to a public health and public order crisis, rather than maintaining a moral stance that amounts to saying, «Drugs are bad,»» explains the former Socialist minister. «Only conservative minds and those who bury their heads in the sand in the name of security are clinging to the ineffective criminalization of cannabis use.».

Cannabis and Politics

For several years now, the former Socialist candidate in the 2017 presidential election has been speaking out in favor of legalizing cannabis. As early as 2016, while he was a candidate in the left-wing primary and a member of the National Assembly representing Yvelines, Benoît Hamon had officially taken a stand in favor of cannabis legalization—an issue he had addressed on David Pujadas and Léa Salamé’s political talk show *L’Emission Politique* and subsequently promoted through explanatory videos. As a presidential candidate, he went so far as to include cannabis legalization in his platform but won only a meager 6.5%.

Among the other candidates in the 2017 presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon had also said he supports the legalization of cannabis. Together with some members of La France Insoumise, he had even gone so far as to submit an amendment to legalize [...]. cannabis in place of Article 58 of the draft justice reform bill, which provides for the extension of lump-sum fines the offense of drug use. A bit of a snub, so to speak. Senator Esther Benassa, who had also participated in the Cannaparade last year, had likewise opposed the bill. The fixed fine was ultimately was enacted last March stifling the debate on non-repressive policies to combat cannabis use.