Cannabis prohibition in figures
Number of users, amount of fines, cost of repression, average age of first experimentation… ZEWEED sums up prohibition in 10 key figures.
1970
The year in which, on December 31, the law “relative aux mesures sanitaires de lutte contre la toxicomanie et à la répression du trafic et de l’usage illicite des substances vénéneuses” brought the possession and consumption of cannabis under criminal law. It was repealed in 2000, when the Public Health Code was overhauled. Nevertheless, the possession and use of cannabis remain prohibited.
15,3
The average age of cannabis experimentation in France has remained stable since the late 1990s.
Sources : ” Enquête sur la santé et les consommations lors de la journée Défense et citoyenneté” (Escapad), 2017; ” Cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids”, Drogues et addicitons : Données essentielles, OFDT, 2019.
900
The number of French people aged between eleven and seventy-five who smoke cannabis on a daily basis. This figure puts France at the top of the European rankings.
Source : OFDT Report
36
The number of countries in 2024 where cannabis is decriminalized, plus eight where it is partially decriminalized.
Source : Sénat.fr
1,823
In billions of euros, the revenue that would be generated if the state controlled the production and sale of marijuana (€523 million in public spending on law enforcement + €1.3 billion in tax revenue).
Source : Terra Nova/Le Monde, 2019.
96
The number of hours in police custody that the possession of a gram of cannabis can entail.
Source : Service Public
3 750
In euros, the amount of the fine for cannabis use, which can also result in a maximum sentence of one year’s imprisonment. Since March 2019, “public action may be extinguished by the payment of a fixed fine of €200”.
Source: ordinance no. 2021-409 of April 8, 2021, of the Public Health Code.
78%
In 2022, 78% of French people were in favor of legalizing medical cannabis
Source : IFOP
3,24
In billions of euros, the value of the illegal cannabis market in France, i.e. between 360 and 500 tonnes of cannabis consumed every year in France.
Source : report by the Institut national des hautes études de la sécurité et de la justice (INHESJ) and OFDT, 2020.
568,1
In millions of euros, public spending on cannabis (€398.4m for law enforcement, €125.1m for justice, €8.1m for health, €36.5m for prevention). The costs of legalization are estimated to be ten times lower.
Source : Christian Ben Lakhdar and Pierre-Alexandre Kopp, “Should cannabis be legalized in France? Un bilan socio-économique”, Économie et prévision, n° 213, 2018.
L’article Cannabis prohibition in figures est apparu en premier sur ZEWEED.