A collective of 31 senators from the "Socialist, Ecologist and Republican" group are committed to launching a consultation process to introduce a law to legalize cannabis. They sign a tribune published in the newspaper "Le Monde" Wednesday.
"We, socialist senators, look reality in the face: the situation is untenable," write the 31 parliamentarians in this tribune. These senators want to launch a consultation to propose a law that would legalize cannabis. Among the signatories, we find the socialists Patrick Kanner, senator of the North or David Assouline, senator of Paris.
Law enforcement is "ineffective, inefficient and unfair."
"1.5 million people use cannabis regularly. Whether we like it or not, this is a social issue that the public authorities must address", the senators began. In France, the law of December 31, 1970 prohibits the production, sale, purchase and use of cannabis. One of the most repressive legislations of the continent. The fine for cannabis use starts at 200 euros. The repression engaged within the framework of the prohibition is judged, "ineffective, inefficient and unfair", by the 31 senators. "It maintains certain districts in a very strong dependence to the traffics which is translated by an insecurity and a violence unbearable for the inhabitants", they continue.
In the tribune, the senators go even further, "this repression mobilizes substantial means for a result in the end, almost zero". In other countries like Canada and Uruguay, the consumption of cannabis is legal.
Legalize to better control
For the senators, legalization would be the best solution. A simple decriminalization, that is to say the maintenance of the prohibition with suppression of the incurred penalties, would be "a renunciation of the public authorities".
They also argue that better control of the products would be achieved with legalization. "The legalization of cannabis will give the means to act more effectively to protect our fellow citizens," they write. The legalization would also allow, to slow down the traffic: "We must provide ourselves with the means to reintegrate the small hands of the traffic in the legal economy". In the long run, the senators think they can get tax revenues from these businesses and even claim to be able to make savings, especially in the areas of justice and police. "We need the legislators to act," they said.
Two years ago, in June 2020, about sixty elected officials of Bouches-du-Rhône, of all sides had already written a tribune in the Obs to legalize cannabis.
Source : RadioFrance https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/la-situation-est-intenable-31-senateurs-demandent-la-legalisation-du-cannabis-4064238 and Le Monde https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2022/08/10/la-legalisation-du-cannabis-donnera-les-moyens-d-agir-plus-efficacement-pour-proteger-davantage-nos-concitoyens_6137643_3232.html