Paris (AFP)
Prime Minister Jean Castex estimated Sunday on Twitch that the legalization in France of so-called “recreational” cannabis demanded by some, including within LREM, was a “false good idea”.
"Personally, I am not in favor of it. As mayor I have seen too much damage that it causes. So, again, health first. There you are, so I think it is a false good idea ", he said during an interview of one hour and a half to the channel of the journalist Samuel Etienne on the platform for fans of video games.
Relaunched by a question from the listener who asked him why there is a different treatment for alcohol and tobacco, he replied: "I still think that there are differences between the two which justifies this inequality of treatment. ".
For alcohol and tobacco, there are "regular messages warning about their use" such as "alcohol abuse is bad for your health", "tobacco kills" on cigarette packs, a- he argued.
For him, we cannot say "I have the right to drive at 180 km / h because I saw someone who passed me at 200", he continued.
According to a citizen consultation launched in mid-January by a parliamentary fact-finding mission, a large majority of some 250,000 people who participated support the legalization of this drug, the use of which is prohibited in France.
"We now know that the legalization of cannabis is no longer a taboo in France and that our fellow citizens have noted the ineffectiveness of the current legislation in the matter", had estimated in early March in a press release the rapporteur of the "recreational component. "of the parliamentary mission, the LREM deputy Caroline Janvier, supported by other elected members of the presidential majority.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who has made the fight against drug trafficking a priority, said in September that he was opposed to the legalization of "this shit".
“Recreational” cannabis is one of the areas on which the parliamentary mission looked, after therapeutic cannabis and so-called “well-being” cannabis (cannabidiol, or CBD).
Authorized in 2019 by the National Assembly but postponed by the Covid-19 health crisis, experimentation with therapeutic cannabis (except for smoking) for at least 3,000 patients suffering from serious illnesses was to begin in March.
© 2021 AFP