Contraventionalization of cannabis: the French government quietly moves ahead

Gérard Collomb announced last May in a very clumsy way a Criminalization of cannabis in France within 3 to 4 months. While no discussions have been organized with civil society so far, it appears the government has decided to move forward on the subject without excessive communication.

Why We had the following information up to now, that we draw from the work of previous governments and that we presented at the conference Organized by Le Jour d’Après in July, decriminalization was shaping up as follows: a third-category fine would be introduced for a first instance of illicit drug use. In case of recidivism, the criminal justice route would be maintained.

It seems we were on the right track.

First, an «information mission to assess the impact of applying the fixed penalty procedure to the offense of illicit drug use» has trained August. The published agenda includes 8 hearings on September 6th and 7th, with representatives mainly categorized as Gendarmerie / Police / Security, and criminal justice.

This mission, purely advisory, is led by a member of the LREM party, Eric Poulliat, and an LR deputy, Robin Reda, elected mayor at 22 in 2014, and aims to gather opinions from people directly involved in the legal and penal aspects of contraventions, excluding users.

But it's another document, spotted by one of our web users, that really clicks. A Bill passed by the Senate in 2011 just been re-submitted by the National Assembly on July 6, 2017.

Titled «Justice: Punish by Fine any First Illicit Use of Narcotic Substances or Plants,» it amends Article L. 3421-1 of the Public Health Code to add a third-class fine (€68, €45 if paid within 3 days, €180 if increased) in case of a first offense of using any narcotic drug.

Why is this document resurfacing now? Originally, the text was voted on by a Senate with a left-wing majority and carried by the European Democratic and Social Rally (RDSE) group. The rapporteur of the text and president of the RDSE group was Jacques Mézard, who is today the Minister of Agriculture and Food. It should be noted that Gérard Collomb was also a senator at the time. The text should not be entirely unknown to him. In order not to appear lenient, the government of the time abandoned the proposal after the Senate vote.

When questioned by us, Benjamin Jeanroy of the think tank ECHO, who recently published a Note on criminalization, gives us a potential explanation: «It's a way for the government to go faster. The text can be amended in the Committee on Laws, then presented before the National Assembly and the Senate under accelerated procedure, to end up in a joint committee and be voted on.».

In the state, the text would therefore punish the first illicit use of any narcotic detected with a third-category fine. We believe, however, that the text will be modified before it is resubmitted to the National Assembly, probably to limit the case to cannabis, or to downgrade the offense to a fifth-class fine, as recommended by the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the National Policy on Combating Illicit Drugs in 2003.

In any case, the issue of criminalization remains the same:

• it modifies for the first time the 1970 text that prohibits narcotics in France, a small step, albeit an important one.
• She is not deeply reforming public policy current cannabis. For example, the medical use of cannabis will not be further authorized, and a second offense will still be treated criminally. Applied as such, decriminalization would also require the creation of a file of cannabis consumers, to differentiate first-time use from repeated use.

To be continued.