France: 80,8% of citizens in favor of legalizing recreational cannabis

The overwhelming majority of French people are in favor of legalizing cannabis for recreational purposes, announced this week the Le Monde. More than 250 people participated in a parliamentary inquiry for information and 80,8% are in favor of authorization for consumption and production under the legislative regime. In addition, 86% agree with the possibility of self-cultivation.

“The end of a taboo?” asks Le Monde, quoting AFP – Agence France Presse. In just over six weeks, 253.194 people participated in an online citizen consultation on recreational cannabis, launched on 13 January by a parliamentary information mission, which ended on Sunday 28 February.

According to the results of the consultation, 80,8% of respondents agree with the authorization for the consumption and production of cannabis within a framework regulated by law, parliamentary sources told AFP. In addition, 13,8% say they are in favor of decriminalizing this drug, the use of which is prohibited in France. On the other hand, 4,6% say they are in favor of strengthening sanctions and only 0,8% agree with maintaining the legal framework in force.

In the case of legalization or decriminalization, the overwhelming majority of respondents (86%) are in favor of the State allowing individuals themselves to grow cannabis plants within the limits established by law.

About 30% of those interviewed in this consultation said they had never used cannabis and 38,3% said they used it occasionally, 17% regularly and 13,9% said they used it daily.

Trading must be done in specialized stores
In response to the question “In the case of legalization, how do you imagine the cannabis trade?”, 62,4% of the participants think that cannabis is sold in specialized stores, 24,2% in regulated sales in the 'alcohol' model, 8,6% at tobacconists and 3,8% at the counter.

This survey shows the ineffectiveness of the legislation in force. “We now know that the legalization of cannabis is no longer taboo in France and that our fellow citizens are aware of the ineffectiveness of the legislation in force in this area,” said Caroline Janvier, deputy from La République en Marche (LRM), and rapporteur for the “recreational component” of the parliamentary mission.

“It will be necessary to launch a real popular consultation and, why not, a referendum”, Jean-Baptiste Moreau, deputy LRM de La Creuse, and general rapporteur of the information mission, told FranceInfo, assuring that he intends to make proposals within a month. “Today we face a ban, but record consumption, so the situation is not sustainable,” he added, making it clear that he was in favor of legalizing cannabis. “We have a very large shadow economy that has grown and finances other networks, arms trafficking and the like”.

Despite the ban, France remains the European country with the highest regular consumption of cannabis, according to the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who has prioritized the fight against drug trafficking, said in September that he was against legalizing “this shit”.

Recreational cannabis is one of the areas where the parliamentary mission has taken care of medical cannabis and CBD. Authorized in 2019 by the National Assembly, but postponed by the health crisis linked to Covid-19, experimentation with therapeutic cannabis (except for smoking) for at least 31 patients suffering from serious diseases must start no later than the end of March XNUMX. .