France Has the Highest Rate of Cannabis Use in Europe
France is the biggest cannabis consumer in Europe, according to multiple reports from researchers and drug agencies in the EU. At the same time, la France continentale is in the group of European countries with the most repressive drug laws. Cannabis for personal use is illegal in the country, and this has been the case since 1970. If French authorities agree on decriminalization, they could save up to $500 million euros spent every year in courtrooms and prosecution.
France has one of the most repressive approaches in Europe when it comes to illegal drugs, and it’s one of the countries with the highest levels of cannabis consumption, which continues to be an illicit substance. The country has 44.8% of lifetime users aged 15-64 vs. 37.5% in Spain or 22.6% in Belgium, according to a 2023 report from researchers with the University of Sorbonne.
Around 200,000 people every year go through the criminal justice system in France on drug-related charges, according to reports from the French interior ministry. Not all of those cases are about cannabis offenders, and it can be safely assumed that most people charged do not go to prison. But there’s no doubt that French authorities spend huge sums of money to undertake all cases concerning cannabis.
Anti-cannabis enforcement and legal proceedings cost France €570 million (nearly US$600 million) every year, according to a 2019 study. Decriminalization could certainly save up many of those millions, especially in times of financial crisis and insecurity. “The country has been grappling with a ballooning debt and deficit, the result of unbridled government spending by Mr. Macron since pandemic lockdowns,” The New York Times wrote recently.
Beyond stashing away, decriminalization could also reduce crime rates and violence, as seen in many other places around the world that have parted ways with cannabis prohibition.
France is lagging behind also with patient access to medicinal cannabis. A national pilot program has accommodated merely 3,000 French patients, all while economic pundits claim that at least 200,000 people could benefit from regulated cannabis medicines. The French government is aware of this, and their estimates are even bigger. A medical cannabis program could expand and fit over 300,000 French patients, according to sources. But legislators have so far done little to untap this potential.
What Do French Proponents of Cannabis Legalization Say?
French parliament group La France Insoumise (LFI) has criticized the government’s ongoing repressive approach to cannabis. The group has pointed out in its statements that prohibition not only fails to reduce cannabis use in France, but it may be further responsible for inciting violence and more organized crime.
“LFI advocates for a comprehensive, community-based approach to combating organized crime in France, including the legalization of cannabis,” the group said in one of its recent statements.
The LFI believes that the unabating repressive response “is not only insufficient, but it fuels insecurity, pushing citizens and officials into a cycle of violence.”
What Do Legalization Opponents Say?
Those against cannabis in France often build their arguments based on what has gone wrong in legal markets abroad. For example, several public health experts have warned about the rise of unwanted health effects as seen in legal U.S. states. Even though the majority of reported health issues in the U.S. have been linked to increased potency of weed and unregulated products. While that’s definitely something to keep in mind, it’s something that strong regulation can actually address beforehand.
France’s neighbor, Germany, which enacted legalization in April of this year, has a non-profit retail model, which experts believe will not lead to any drastic increase in cannabis use. Also, German regulators would not be so pleased to see cultivators freewheeling about product potency. Anything like that could actually become an argument for reversing cannabis policy progress.
Cannabis legalization in Germany is definitely a turning point for Europe. If only France follows the path of its neighbor, the country can promptly benefit from the nascent market, and possibly address other lingering social and financial challenges it currently faces.
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Stephen Andrews
