When Jean-Pierre Bacri talked about his cannabis use on TV

It's a little gem from French television that's been brought back by one of our followers on Twitter.

During the second episode of *La Grosse Emission*, which aired on December 1, 1997, Jean-Pierre Bacri spoke openly about his cannabis use.

With his inimitable style, Jean-Pierre Bacri recounts what his days were like during the filming of the show.

«I get up around noon, drink a double espresso, and go buy *L’Equipe* and *Le Parisien*, because I don’t read *Libé* anymore—they piss me off now […] they’re annoying, they’re snobs, they really get on my nerves. And that’s it—so then I come back home, make myself another coffee, and that’s when I start getting worked up, so I roll my first joint.»

Laughter filled the room, and Bacri jumped on the opportunity: «No, no, I’m just kidding—that’s not true. Actually, I do it around 2 or 3 a.m.; I don’t do it right away.».

Dominique Farrugia, who is interviewing Bacri, then discusses the therapeutic benefits of cannabis.

«—I’m one of those people who believe that pot has therapeutic benefits. Do you believe that, too?”
– Absolutely.
– Absolutely. But does it have any benefits other than therapeutic ones?
– It has a lot of benefits—well, I really love all the benefits of this “soft drug,” which is still illegal for now. It hasn’t been decriminalized yet, so I’m still putting my life at a bit of risk here.
– You might end up in jail.
»– That's it. Exactly."

On the other hand, Jean-Pierre Bacri is «against hard drugs.».
«– For example, a random hard drug—alcohol—is available for sale.”.
– Very, very loosely, in fact.
– It just happened to be a hard drug.
– There are others that aren’t for sale, but that doesn’t mean we’ll necessarily take them. Just because we smoke a joint doesn’t mean we’re automatically going to shoot up heroin right after.
– There it is—not necessarily right behind it.
– Sometimes that happens, but sometimes there’s…
»—Besides, all the statistics will tell you that.".

So it’s 1997, on the Comédie! channel—which aired first on satellite and then on cable—and Jean-Pierre Bacri calmly tackles the topics of medical marijuana and non-escalation of drug use.

If we had to choose a movie title featuring Bacri that captures the past 20 years and how the debate has evolved, we’d be torn between «Bonjour l’angoisse» and «On connaît la chanson.».