Court refuses to try cannabiculturist for growing 144 plants and 1 kilo of cannabis

In a landmark decision, the Poitiers Criminal Court dismissed the summons against a cannabis grower and refused to try him, despite the discovery at his home of a crop of 144 plants and 1 kilogram of cannabis in Sérigny, a small town near Châtellerault.

The decision is based on the fact that French law is inconsistent with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The cultivation of cannabis for personal use is, in fact, criminalized in France under Article L3421-1 of the Public Health Code, which punishes it with one year of imprisonment and a fine of €3,750. This penalty may be settled by paying a fixed fine. However, Article 7, paragraph 1, of the ECHR states that an offense may not be punished by a «penalty more severe than that which was applicable at the time the offense was committed.».

In this case, the Court found that there are no criteria for determining whether the consumer should be sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of €3,750 or only a fixed fine, leaving the choice to the discretion of the public prosecutor’s office.

«This situation clearly violates the principle of the predictability of penalties, enshrined in the Convention and by the European Court of Human Rights ,» states the court ruling, which adds that the provision clearly creates a potential difference in treatment between two defendants in similar situations, and thus constitutes discrimination contrary, in particular, to the ECHR.

The defendant, represented by attorney Nicolas Hachet, therefore had his summons to appear in court rescinded. The court may ask the prosecutor to issue the defendant a fixed-amount civil penalty – and the resulting entry in Section 1 of the criminal record for a period of 3 years.

Nicolas Hachet, whose Twitter bio reads «I can’t—I’m decriminalizing,» has no intention of stopping there. Regarding the AFD, he will argue before the European Court of Human Rights—just as he did before the Council of State and the Court of Cassation— the argument that a fine—especially a flat-rate fine—has no place in the Public Health Code, and more specifically in the section dedicated to combating diseases and addictions.

«You don’t fight a disease by fining the «sick»—that amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment, which violates Article 3 of the ECHR,» he tells us.