France launches public consultation on legalising cannabis
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France is Europe’s biggest cannabis consumer, despite having some of the continent’s toughest laws against the drug. In response to this failure of the law to act as a deterrent, a group of MPs from across the political spectrum have launched an initiative to shift the terms of the debate on this issue.
The public consultation on cannabis will be looking into health risks, the consequences of illegal trafficking and security issues.
The first step in these MPs’ bid to encourage the French political class to be more open to the idea of legalising cannabis was a citizens’ consultation launched on January 13. More than 175,000 people responded on the Assemblée Nationale’s website – compared to an average of 30,000 responses to such consultations.
This consultation, open until February 28, has two objectives: to better understand the French public’s views about cannabis, and to understand what government policies on the drug people want.
France has the highest rate of cannabis use in Europe. In 2016, 41 percent of French people aged 15 to 64 had consumed it at least once – compared to the European average of 18.9 percent.
