Paris (AFP)
A transpartisan bill aimed at legalizing cannabis to fight trafficking was presented Tuesday by LFI deputy Eric Coquerel, with the aim of maintaining pressure on a subject to which the executive is opposed.
Mr. Coquerel's text is co-signed by around fifteen deputies, mainly from the left but also two belonging to the LREM group, Jean-Baptiste Moreau and Patrick Vignal, and one to the MoDem group, Richard Ramos.
The proposal on the "fight against the illegal drug trade" - its official title - revolves around three axes: prevention, legalization of cannabis and security.
The fight against drugs is no longer the prerogative of the Ministry of the Interior alone, that of Health being called upon to "assume the coordination of narcotics".
The central idea is based on the fact that legalized cannabis, produced and marketed under the control of the public authorities, would make it possible to dry up trafficking and better act in terms of public health.
Mr. Coquerel, elected from Seine-Saint-Denis, drew up to the press a "catastrophic assessment" of the repressive policy currently followed, "which does not work either to curb consumption or to curb traffic".
"We know that legalization is inevitable" even if "it is a very difficult subject to broach in the public debate", added François-Michel Lambert (group Freedoms and territories), one of the most ardent supporters of decriminalization to the Assembly.
A bill by Mr. Lambert, elements of which were included in that of Mr. Coquerel, was rejected in the Social Affairs Committee at the Palais Bourbon last March.
A parliamentary mission, coordinated by LREM MP Caroline Janvier, issued a report at the beginning of the month also proposing to legalize cannabis in order to counter trafficking.
Mr. Coquerel however admitted that faced with the opposition expressed by the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin and President Emmanuel Macron, his proposal or any other similar text had virtually no chance of succeeding for the moment.
"This will not happen under this mandate," he agreed.
But by keeping the pressure on this objective, "I believe that the next term of office can be the occasion to adopt a law in this direction", hoped the elected LFI.
© 2021 AFP