Citizen consultation: 80.8% of respondents in favor of legalizing cannabis

80.8% of the 253,194 people who took part in the citizen consultation on recreational cannabis responded in favor of a cannabis legalization.

13.8% were in favor of decriminalization, 4.6% were in favor of increased penalties and only 0.8% were in favor of maintaining the current legal framework, which was deemed ineffective by 92% of respondents.

«We now know that the legalization of cannabis is no longer a taboo in France, and that our fellow citizens recognize the ineffectiveness of current legislation in this area,» said in a statement the rapporteur of the recreational section of the parliamentary mission, LREM MP Caroline Janvier.

«We'll have to launch a real popular consultation and why not a referendum,» Jean-Baptiste Moreau, LREM MP for Creuse and general rapporteur for the information mission, said on Sunday. «We'll be making proposals within a month.

5. We need to launch a real popular consultation and, why not, a referendum on this issue, because today we are facing a situation that is no longer tenable. The FR has a record consumption with an ineffective repressive policy.

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- Jean-Baptiste Moreau (@moreaujb23) March 2, 2021

«Today, we're faced with a ban but record consumption, so the situation is untenable», added the elected representative, who expressed his support for the legalization of cannabis. «We have a very substantial parallel economy that finances other networks, arms trafficking and so on.

Just over 30% of respondents to this citizen consultation said they had never used cannabis. 38.3% said they used it occasionally, 17% regularly and 13.9% said they used this narcotic daily.

62.4% imagine cannabis being marketed in specialist stores, 24.2% in regulated sales along the lines of alcohol, 8.6% in tobacconists and 3.8% over the counter.
In the event of legalization or decriminalization, respondents were overwhelmingly in favor (86%) of the state allowing individuals to grow their own cannabis within the limits set by law.

The previous survey IFOP survey carried out by think tank Terra Nova and participatory citizen lobby Echo Citoyen in 2018 showed a «tipping point» in opinion regarding the recreational use of cannabis, with 51% of French people declaring themselves in favor of state regulation of recreational cannabis.