French minister Le Guen reignites cannabis debate

By BBC.co.uk

A French junior minister has sparked controversy by calling for renewed debate over the decriminalisation of cannabis.

"Prohibition is not effective", Jean-Marie Le Guen told France's BFMTV.

Other lawmakers - including fellow Socialists - dismissed the call, and a government spokesman said there were no plans for decriminalisation.

A recent WHO report found more French 15-year-olds smoked cannabis than in 41 other developed nations.

The study cautioned that "cannabis is a dangerous and harmful substance, especially for children and young people who use it regularly... Cannabis use is a risk factor for mental disorders and may trigger psychosis".

Mr Le Guen, who is secretary of state for relations with parliament as well as a medical doctor by training, said he opposed cannabis use and was a public health advocate who had always "fought against consumption of cannabis among the young".

But he said that approach had failed. Young people needed to be reached out to and taught that cannabis was dangerous, he said: "It is a health-based approach that I propose, not a moral or legal one."

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