Marijuana Legalization In Europe: Is France Next?

The political debate is less about interdiction or legalization but, rather, about the nuances of what many are calling “ an unavoidable course:” complete legalization or mere decriminalization.

European legislation echoes international law barring consumption of narcotic drugs, although countries can choose whether or not to sanction its use.

Marijiuana, a divisive issue that normally resurfaces in Europe during election campaigns, has come home to France’s hotly-contested presidential race.

THE FRENCH ELECTORATE

With eight months to go until the 2017 French presidential election, marijuana – or cannabis, as the French prefer to call it – is an honored guest meme in the candidates’ discourse, and a subject of intense controversy among the French electorate.

But hold on. The political debate is less about interdiction or legalization but, rather, about the nuances of what many are calling “an unavoidable course:” complete legalization or mere decriminalization.

European legislation echoes international law barring consumption of narcotic drugs, although countries can choose whether or not to sanction its use. That detail has given rise to rather peculiar ways to dance around the law, or between the two alternatives.

Decriminalization means that the use or possession of cannabis is not a criminal offence but the production and commercialization continue to be outlawed, as in the Netherlands.

.PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION

Legalization puts marijuana at the same level as tobacco. It lifts the ban on the use, production and distribution. The state replaces the clandestine market, regulating both demand by excluding certain consumers, such as minors. as well as the commercialization through authorized controlled “pharmacies” or other venues.

None of the European Union members has completely legalized marijuana. Spain, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands, among others, have twisted their laws to tolerate and frame the use and sale of small amounts through special dispensaries, recreational stores (coffee shops) and clubs.

It has also been “sort of” decriminalized or “semi legalized” in the Czech Republic, Belgium, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Croatia, and Slovenia, where the fines are lighter, possession of personal amounts are accepted and legislation carves the difference between “light” and “hard” drugs.