Toulouse: Local personalities call for the legalization of cannabis following a shooting incident

In Toulouse, a shooting broke out on July 3, leaving one person dead and seven injured (two of them seriously). The shooting reportedly broke out around 9 p.m. in the Reynerie neighborhood in Toulouse, a neighborhood considered to be a high-crime area. A gunman riding a motorcycle reportedly opened fire several times in a square in the neighborhood.

Local figures are calling for the legalization of cannabis

In response to this violence, four prominent figures from the city of Toulouse decided to take action and speak out in a op-ed published on the France 3 website :

• Salah Amokrane, a candidate for Europe Ecologie les Verts in the legislative elections in Toulouse and an activist with the nonprofit organization Tactikollectif .
• François Piquemal, a teacher who heads the Toulouse chapter of Droit au Logement (DAL).
• Ali Tehar, a man committed to the Karavan Association, which promotes «access to culture for all» in Toulouse.
• Ahmed Chouki, another man who is involved in various community organizations in the Reynerie neighborhood.

These public figures are calling for the legalization of cannabis in order to put an end to the crime linked to the black market and drug trafficking that is rampant in this high-risk neighborhood in the northeast part of the city.

They wrote a text titled Two options: legalize it or wait for the next tragedies to unfold. This manifesto, addressed directly to the French government, calls for «greater awareness of the situation in neighborhoods where drug trafficking creates a danger zone for residents.».

The text describes a «serious situation» in which disadvantaged neighborhoods are severely affected, which is taking a toll on their residents. They are therefore calling for the «legalization of soft drugs, including cannabis, and effective management of hard drugs.»

Finally, they denounce a «hypocrisy» that persists in France, given that the Young people in France are the heaviest cannabis users of Europe.

This manifesto comes shortly after the‘The announcement of the decriminalization of cannabis by Interior Minister Gérard Collomb last May, which would be punishable by a simple fine of around 100€ for a first offense. Earlier this year, 150 prominent figures from Marseille were also calling for government regulation of the cannabis market for the same reasons as their colleagues in Toulouse.

Mehdi Bautier