French MP Moetai Brotherson proposes legalizing cannabis in Polynesia

Moetai Brotherson, member of parliament for French Polynesia, tabled on Tuesday March 15 a proposed law to legalize cannabis in Polynesia.

Acting on the one hand French prohibition failures of drugs in general and cannabis in particular, and the impossibility of experiment with therapeutic cannabis in Polynesia, the Polynesian MP is simply proposing to experiment with the legalization of cannabis for 5 years in the archipelago.

This experiment in legalization, called »Social Regulation of Cannabis», would be organized using several tools:

• A «Public Authority for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis» to ensure the security of all cannabis-related activities, including medical ones.
• An ambitious policy of dissuasion and care focused on the challenges of problematic cannabis use, for optimal protection of young people and dignified, multi-factorial care for people suffering from addictive use.
• A training policy for those involved in experimentation, to raise awareness and professionalize the sector's professions.
• An anchoring in the reality of the Polynesian territory, which will be able to create the model that suits it, for example by favouring the culture of endemic varieties

The sharing of powers between France and the overseas collectivity would be governed by 3 laws: an organic law setting out the framework for experimentation, an ordinary law organizing the State's powers in the context of experimentation, and a local law organizing the powers of the territory of French Polynesia in the context of experimentation.

Details of the experiment

Experimentation with the legalization of cannabis, known as «social regulation of cannabis» in Polynesia, would be authorized for a period of 5 years. It is intended to be «supportive, eco-responsible and local».

Any adult of legal age or person suffering from a pathology certified by a doctor, with a medical prescription, may possess up to 30 grams of cannabis or its equivalent, 1 gram of dried cannabis corresponding to 5 grams of fresh cannabis, 15 grams of edible product, 70 grams of liquid product or 0.25 grams of concentrate. Sick people will be able to possess more as prescribed by their doctor.

Specialized outlets will be licensed to distribute cannabis, with a ban on advertising outside the point of sale and on setting up near schools or similar establishments.

Self-cultivation of cannabis would be authorized and limited to six plants per household, with compulsory declaration to the Public Authority.

From Cannabis Clubs are authorized to grow and distribute cannabis to their members, up to a limit of thirty grams per member per month.

The Cannabis Regulation and Control Authority will determine the cultivars to be included in the experiment, based on a non-limitative official catalog of cannabis cultivars already present in French Polynesia, drawn up by the French Polynesian Ministry of Agriculture.

The experiment would authorize de facto the cultivation of cannabis for medical use and its export.