France should legalise cannabis, says MPs report

If cannabis were legalised, 2 billion euros (around $2.4 billion) could be raised to fund prevention policies, MPs said
Agence France Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, May 5, 2021

france cannabis2France should legalise cannabis so as to regain control of sales and better protect minors, a group of cross-party MPs said in a report, a finding at odds with the government's tough anti-drugs stance. Despite an expensive clampdown approach that excessively mobilises the police, "the state is helplessly witnessing the normalisation of cannabis for young people and the deterioration of security", MPs said in the report. The budget allocated to police and border controls for anti-drugs policies almost doubled between 2012 and 2018, reaching 1.08 billion euros (around $1.30 billion) a year. Yet France has the highest cannabis consumption in the European Union, with 5 million users a year and 900,000 daily users.