Paris (AFP)

A parliamentary fact-finding mission on cannabis officially launched its work on Tuesday in the hope of "overcoming" the debate, recurrent in France, around its recreational or therapeutic use.

"There is an urgency of the subject because our country has fairly repressive legislation on the use of narcotic drugs" but "it is in France where we consume the most", declared the deputy LR Robin Reda, president of the mission, during a press conference at the National Assembly.

In total, five million French people declare that they have already used cannabis. To change the criminal response, a lump sum fine of 200 euros must soon be tried to sanction consumers.

The mission, which will deliver its first conclusions in the second half of the year, aims to draw up an inventory of the issues at the same time health, security, economic and agricultural, around the use of cannabis and the production of hemp.

"This is a question very little known to our citizens" and it "is not limited to the question of cannabis as a drug," continued the deputy.

"It will be necessary to exceed the question as much as possible because the debate is often hysterical", also underlined Jean-Baptiste Moreau, LREM deputy and general rapporteur of the mission.

"We will have to get out of the dogma because we have refused any development for years," he also declared, while assuring that the objective of the work was not to achieve "total legalization".

The mission, whose work will focus on three main uses of cannabis - therapeutic, recreational and for "well-being" - will also study the situation abroad, especially in the United States where several states have taken the plunge of legalization.

Pointing to a "legal vagueness" on the marketing of cannabis products, the members of the mission believe that France "currently transposes" European regulations by prohibiting all "products from the flower of hemp" and by restricting use of hemp "for the sole trade in fibers and seeds".

These products promote "reduction of stress and anxiety, improved sleep and recovery" and can be consumed in the form of food, liquid, vaporized or cosmetic products, underline these elected officials.

The trial of cannabis for medical use, for which the drug agency (ANSM) has given its approval, will begin in a few weeks in France and will be at the heart of the mission's first hearing.

© 2020 AFP