For the first time, a majority of French people (51%) are in favor of the decriminalization of cannabis.
- The OFDT counts nearly 5 million annual cannabis consumers in France, including 1.4 million regular consumers (with an average consumption of 10 times per month).
- On the black market, or through their own culture, the French consume between 360 and 500 tons of cannabis per year.
It’s a first. More than half of French people are in favor of the decriminalization of cannabis in a new Ifop surveyand 47% believe that state control of the production and consumption of cannabis would be more effective in combating trafficking than the repressive policies that have been in place for 50 years.
A context marked by debates
In a context marked by the debates surrounding the mobilization of law enforcement against drug trafficking, the tragic death of a police officer at a deal point in Avignon and the publication on May 5 of a parliamentary report defending a position – the “regulated legalization” of cannabis – going against that of the government, a transpartisan bill came on Tuesday, May 25, to relaunch the debate on the subject by advocating its legalization and its marketing under control of the powers public.
In this context, on which side do the French lean today on the question of the regulation of the use of cannabis and the effectiveness of the repressive policies carried out by the authorities for half a century? To find out, the site CBD-Grams.com commissioned a survey from Ifop in order to provide reliable and recent data on this subject. Carried out on a representative national sample of substantial size (2,025 people), this large-scale study highlights the growing openness of public opinion to a relaxation of regulations.
A majority of French people for decriminalization
The proportion of French people in favor of the decriminalization of cannabis consumption continues to grow year after year. For the first time since the vote of the 1970 law, the “decriminalization” of cannabis is supported by a majority of French people: 51% are in favor, an increase of 8 points compared to the last measure. Ifop (43% in 2017). A rate that rises to 54% among voters of Emmanuel Macron, who recently reaffirmed his opposition to a measure of this type.
The desire to decriminalize is particularly strong among those saying they will vote for Jean-Luc Mélenchon in 2022 (75%), for Yannick Jadot (77%) and for Anne Hidalgo (61%). On the other hand, supporters of Xavier Bertrand and Marine Le Pen mostly oppose it with respectively 33% and 40% support for decriminalization.
47% of French people for consumption regulated by law
Decriminalization is not synonymous with legalization (legal authorization). Decriminalizing the consumption of narcotics would not necessarily mean abolishing the prohibition but rather abolishing the criminal procedure. However, when we question the French more specifically about their expectations in terms of controlling consumption and production, we observe that behind the relaxation of regulations defended by a majority of French people, they aspire more (at 47 %) to a legalization of cannabis – that is to say to an authorization of both its consumption and its production – than to a decriminalization (at 9%) which would be limited to the lifting of criminal proceedings attached to its use.
“It should be noted that these results put into perspective those of the citizen consultation of May 6, 2021 on recreational cannabis, which noted a plebiscite in favor of cannabis legislation (80.8%)”, note the pollsters.
78% of French people in favor of the legalization of therapeutic cannabis
Nearly 8 out of 10 French people (78%) are in favor of the legalization of cannabis for therapeutic purposes and in an almost identical proportion (74%) for the State to fund research in this field.
62% of French people in favor of state control over cannabis
Going in the same direction as the bill defended by the deputy Éric Coquerel (LFI), public opinion is more than ever won over to the idea of marketing cannabis under the control of the public authorities: nearly two thirds of French people (62%, +10 points compared to 2016) believe that this measure would be more effective in combating trafficking than repressive policies which they consider ineffective and costly. Other virtues attributed to this regulated legalization: bringing money into the coffers of the State (81%) and less exposing the police to the violence of traffickers (67%).
“While it is unlikely – and this despite dissonance within the majority – that the decriminalization of cannabis will be voted on by the end of the five-year term, it is clear that public opinion today is “mature” both for the legalization of its use and for its marketing under the control of the public authorities”, analysis Gautier Jardon, of Ifop.
