«Sterilizing drug addicts»: the Academies of Pharmacy and Medicine disassociate themselves from Jean Costentin's remarks

In a press release issued on February 20, 2025, the Academy of Pharmacy distanced itself from the remarks made by one of its members, Jean Costentin, who had called in an op-ed published on the Atlantico website for the use of «effective contraception [on] drug addicts who have not yet kicked their habit.».

Jean Costentin and Cannabis: A Life of Disillusionment

Jean Costentin is no stranger to those who follow cannabis news in France. When he isn’t spouting his views in far-right publications, it’s his colleagues at the National Center for Prevention, Studies, and Research on Substance Abuse (C.N.P.E.R.T)— an empty shell tasked with serving as a platform for France’s prohibitionist agenda—and of which Costentin is president—who speak out to spread lies, falsehoods, and nonsense about cannabis.

In fact, we had taken a close look at some of his arguments in 2017 then in 2019, and, in conclusion, a tendency toward dramatization, bias, and lies.

Never one to hold back when it comes to praising the qualities of wine—and likely influenced by his advancing age—Jean Costentin has become significantly more radical in his latest writings, even as he strongly identifies with the Academies of Pharmacy and Medicine. In addition to calling for the sterilization of drug users, his latest outburst called for severely restricting the financial resources of drug users, forcing them into outpatient or inpatient treatment depending on their results, or imposing an even stricter prohibition.

He ended his rebuttal by attacking ad hominem Those he blames for the lax approach to addiction treatment in France and the popularity of cannabis there: Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Bernard Kouchner, Amine Benyamina, and William Lowenstein.

The Academy of Pharmacy Distances Itself

In its press release, the Academy of Pharmacy distances itself from Mr. Costentin.

She points out that «one of the major advances in the fight against addiction is based on the harm reduction policy implemented in the 1980s, marked in particular by the introduction of opioid substitution therapy, which the National Academy of Pharmacy advocated as early as 2009 in its report on the subject.».

He went on to say that their member’s writing «in no way reflects the views and positions, values, and scientific rigor upheld by our Academy.».

Finally, she condemns the personal attacks that conclude the op-ed and states that she reserves «the right to promptly take any necessary action to uphold her humanist values and scientific rigor.».

The Academy of Medicine, for its part, responded more briefly in a separate press release :

«The National Academy of Medicine strongly condemns the ethically unacceptable position—coupled with personal attacks—expressed by one of its members in an op-ed published on January 2, 2025, titled «A Tidal Wave of Drugs Sweeping France: These Serious Mistakes Committed by the State in the Fight Against Drug Addiction.» The National Academy of Medicine, which has made addiction to both legal and illegal drugs its primary cause for the year 2025, wishes to reaffirm the human, ethical, and scientific values it promotes.»