Cannabis and the presidential election: what are the candidates proposing?

With just a few days to go before the first round of the presidential election, we take a look at the positions of the French candidates. on cannabis. And while the subject comes up at every election, the European context has changed a lot in the last 5 years.

On the medical side, France has made (some) progress on the subject, with the launch of an experiment involving 1,500 patients. treat themselves with cannabis. On the recreational side, legalization is progressing in several countries. Malta has legalized German neighbors and Luxembourgish prepare for it.

Even if a legal breakthrough for cannabis could be achieved by means other than politics - notably by the courts - Newsweed to help you see things more clearly. Let's take a look at the programs of the twelve presidential candidates.

4 candidates for legalization, 4 for more sanctions, 2 for debate, 1 for status quo, 1 for decriminalization

Let's start with the big picture. Four presidential candidates want to authorize the sale of cannabis: Jean-Luc Mélenchon (La France insoumise), Yannick Jadot (Les Verts), Jean Lassalle (Résistons) and Philippe Poutou (Nouveau parti anticapitaliste).

Emmanuel Macron (La République en marche) wants to maintain the current legal status, but more resources for police officers and gendarmes to stop the traffic.

Four candidates want to strengthen criminal penalties for consumers and sellers: Valérie Pécresse (Les Républicains), Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (Debout la France). Marine Le Pen (Rassemblement national) and Eric Zemmour (Reconquête).

Two candidates want to give themselves some time. Anne Hidalgo (Socialist Party) wants to organize a «consensus conference» with the mayors; Fabien Roussel (Communist Party) plans a «democratic debate».

One candidate who stands out from the crowd is Nathalie Arthaud (Lutte ouvrière). To make the difference with legalization, click here.

Legalization and decriminalization: a virtual monopoly of the left and far left

Three left-wing candidates (Mélenchon, Jadot, Poutou) want to legalize cannabis in France. In their projects, this measure takes several forms. We can also count on Jean Lassalle, the only pro-legalization candidate not belonging to the left. Finally, Nathalie Arthaud does not want to legalize, only decriminalize.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon: legalization with «state monopoly»

In his program, Jean-Luc Mélenchon is leaning towards a «state monopoly», like the Quebec or the’Uruguay. For the La France Insoumise candidate, the French state will have to supervise the entire chain. Thus, «the consumption, production and sale of cannabis».» would be a public monopoly, a bit like La Poste in the mail business.

In his view, the taxes collected from cannabis sales should be aimed at «programs to combat addiction, particularly in schools». Finally, Mélenchon wishes to «entrust the steering of drug policy to the Ministry of Health rather than the Ministry of the Interior».».

Yannick Jadot: legalization with «supervised» businesses»

Yannick Jadot, wishes a more liberal model. It provides for « producers and strictly supervised distributors».». Even if it's not written in black and white, we can guess that the environmentalist candidate has a licensing model in mind. In this case, a company must obtain state approval to produce or sell cannabis. This is the case for in many American states.

With regard to taxation, the candidate envisages «five to six billion euros» collected from sales, in a interview with Konbini. He wants this money to go to « health and prevention policies drugs ». Like Mélenchon, the ecologist is considering « a public health approach rather than a police approach [...]. to deal effectively and with dignity with the subject of drugs».».

Béchir Saket partly wrote the «health» section of Yannick Jadot's program. He is the co-founder of the L630 association with Yann Bisiou, and is very much involved in the health sector. committed for the legalization of cannabis.

Philippe Poutou: in favor of «legalization»

Philippe Poutou speaks simply in his program from «legalization of cannabis», without giving further details.

Jean Lassalle: «strictly supervised» legalization»

Jean Lassalle is the latest candidate to want to legalize cannabis. In his project, he says he wants to « strictly supervise its sale and dedicate a large share of revenues to the fight against addiction».». He stands out, firstly because the MP for Pyrénées-Atlantiques is not from the left, but rather from the center-right. He is above all a defender of rural communes. Like his colleagues in Creuse, he sees cannabis as an opportunity to turn around neglected areas.

Nathalie Arthaud: «decriminalize to put an end to repression».»

On the other hand, Nathalie Arthaud is the only one to envisage decriminalization. This «would »put an end to repression against consumers and retailers".» said the Lutte Ouvrière candidate for the VIH.org website. She doesn't want to go any further and legalize cannabis, in view of the «financial stakes in this sector», including «those who want to legalize cannabis are those who want to sell it legally».».

Macron wants the status quo

He's the only one in his corridor. Emmanuel Macron walks a tightrope. He doesn't want to increase criminal penalties for traffickers, like the right and far right; nor does he want to legalize or decriminalize. For the outgoing president, what is needed is more effective police and gendarmerie to combat trafficking.

Emmanuel Macron: «not in favor of legalizing cannabis»

The program of the outgoing president does not contain any proposals concerning cannabis, proof of his determination not to change the law. «I'm not not in favor of legalizing cannabis. If we were to legalize, [drug dealers] would move on to other forms of crime».», justifies Emmanuel Macron when presenting his program to journalists.

The candidate does not want to change the law, but echoes the words of his Minister of the Interior on the subject. «harassment of deal points» cannabis. If re-elected, he intends to «A quarter to a third of additional security forces dedicated to the fight against drug trafficking.

Finally, Emmanuel Macron wants to «increase» 200 euro fine for cannabis users. This fine could soon apply to «lookouts and traffickers».

Note that the outgoing president has evolved a great deal on the subject. In September 2016, a few months after founding En Marche, he saw a «a form of efficiency» in the legalization of cannabis.

More sanctions against traffickers, a refrain for the right and far right

Valérie Pécresse: «minimum sentences» for drug dealers

The word «cannabis» does not appear once in his program, but the President of the Île-de-France region mentions the «traffickers» on several occasions.

Valérie Pécresse wants to impose «minimum sentences», i.e. minimum, to «drug traffickers», without giving further details. It also plans to «to exclude» access to social housing «convicted of trafficking».

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan: «five years» minimum prison sentence for traffickers

Like Valérie Pécresse, the word «cannabis» does not appear in the project of Debout la France. Like Valérie Pécresse, he proposes to «to »considerably strengthen the repressive arsenal". In his view, we need to target the traffickers, imposing a «A »minimum sentence of five years' imprisonment", whereas the «average» sentence for a small-time drug dealer is one to two years in prison.

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan also wants to «systematically disqualify dual nationals and expel foreigners guilty of drug trafficking».

Marine Le Pen: fine or prison sentence

The program of the Rassemblement Nationale candidate is not very clear when it comes to cannabis. She also mentions «drug trafficking», but gave no further details in her presidential project. In the «security» section, Marine Le Pen refers to the end of the «a reminder of the law» for the «possession of narcotics», which she considers a «encouragement». For her, « two types can be combinedtaken by offenders and criticsminels: fines and prison firm».

To find out more, listen to Marine Le Pen in the media. On France Bleu Vaucluse, she considers that legalization is «obviously not the solution», and proposes « to adapt the sentences of drug dealers according to the kilos or grams of drugs in their possession».

Eric Zemmour: a «ferocious» policy... then possible legalization if it doesn't work

Nor is the candidate very forthcoming on his cannabis-related measures. Here too, the plant is associated with drug trafficking, which Eric Zemmour wants to curb. «annihilate». To achieve this, the former polemicist wants to create a «force nationale bringing together police services and justice authorities, customs and tax authorities, in particular to step up seizures against trafiquants ».

Like Valérie Pécresse, he wants to « expulse automatically trafiand their families in social housing».».

But the far-right candidate's position is not set in stone. «We must first apply a fierce policy of repression against drug trafficking (...) only then, if it really fails, must we think about what to do next».», he declared during a conference in Béziers. An original move for his political family.

One big omission: therapeutic cannabis

Not for lack of searching. Our highlighter was ready to color all the words related to the «medical cannabis» or even «therapeutic», and even «experimentation» underway since spring 2021. Unfortunately! We found nothing. Not a single line, surprising as it may seem. Not even among the two candidates most advanced on the legalization of cannabis - Mélenchon and Jadot.

None of the twelve candidates said whether the experiment, due to end in spring 2023, should continue. No one has specified whether they wish to carry out new scientific research on the subject.

There are a few media statements. «Cannabis is also a means of treatment in a number of cases».» for Jean-Luc Mélenchon at Konbini ; «For the legalization of therapeutic cannabis».» says Marine Le Pen on BFMTV ; «An extremely interesting tool in the treatment of cancer and a number of other diseases».» according to Yannick Jadot visiting LaFleur.

The problem is that these statements never appear in black and white in the program. So what is the political value of a media stance?