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France: Smoking them out Amelia Gentleman The Guardian Wednesday 17 Sep 2003 Paris dispatch France's proposed new soft drug legislation has sparked fears of a more repressive approach to cannabis users, says Amelia Gentleman At a time when countries throughout Europe are beginning to relax their legislation on soft drugs, France is planning to introduce tougher penalties for cannabis users. A document being considered by the centre-right government this week appears, at first glance, to offer a relaxation of the current legislation. The document proposes that prison sentences should be abolished in favour of fines, but pro-cannabis lobby groups claim that it conceals a much more repressive approach. They point out that, while the current penalties are almost never enforced, the new system will make it far easier for cannabis users to be punished. France's government has yet to set the precise level of fine, but it could be anywhere between E68 (£48) and E1,500 for a first-time offender. That will depend on whether the prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, opts for the harsh plans supported by his interior minister or the more tolerant approach favoured by the health ministry. The report was produced by the inter-ministerial taskforce for the campaign against drugs, which has also proposed punishments such as enforced community service or the confiscation of items of cannabis users' property such as mobile phones, cars or driving licences. Only 8% of cannabis users stopped in 2001 were prosecuted under the old 1970 law, which was primarily designed to stop heroin use. It gives powers for the imposition of fines of up to E5,000 or one year's imprisonment. This marked a 22% decrease in prosecutions over a decade, but a recent study showed that cannabis use in France had doubled over the same period. The research revealed that 54.6% of boys and 45.7% of girls had tried the drug by the time they were 17 years old. Pharmacies in the Netherlands were recently granted permission to make cannabis available as a prescription drug for the treatment of certain illnesses, and changes to British policy mean that people are effectively free to use the drug in private. However, the hardline French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, has never hidden his desire to crack down on the country's drug users, repeatedly stressing that he sees no distinction between hard and soft drugs. "They're both toxic," he argues. On Monday, he indicated that he favoured the imposition of severe fines, and remarked, without pride, that France is currently the major cannabis consumer in Europe. "Is this a situation that we can accept? Are drugs a liberty or an alienation? They're an alienation," Mr Sarkozy said. However, this week's proposals have been with some bemusement by activists on both sides of the argument. The Movement for Controlled Legalisation was uncertain about how to interpret the proposed changes. "It's undeniably a step forward to stop sending users to prison - but this is not enough," a spokesman for the organisation said. The Cannabis Information and Research Collective, which estimates that approximately 20 million people in France have used cannabis, and that the market is worth E900m per year, warned that the new legislation could prove confusing. It said that many young people might get the impression that the law has been relaxed when, in fact, penalties are being toughened. A researcher for the organisation, Francois-Georges Lavacquerie, expressed concern that a repressive agenda was hidden behind the new proposals, saying: "People who were not punished before will be from now on." Opponents of the proposed changes are hoping that Mr Sarkozy's passionate approach might ultimately be softened by his fear of appearing to be anti-youth. Around 100,000 people are questioned over cannabis possession each year, and there is some concern that the extra paperwork involved in taking action against a greater proportion of them will add to the strain on an already overloaded legal system. The subject will remain under consideration this week, and Mr Raffarin will appear on a special edition of televised chat show this Sunday to discuss the subject and present his conclusions. amelia.gentleman@guardian.co.uk --=======3D1459F4=======--
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