France seized more drugs than ever before

France[i] has one of the toughest laws against cannabis use in Europe. Despite this, the country is far ahead in the statistics. A report now published by the French government proposes to introduce fixed fines between 150-200 euros for smokers of marijuana, and prison sentences should be abolished. The laws restricting cannabis use would not work in their current form, it adds. More than 150 tons of illegal drugs were seized by French authorities in 2022. According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, this represents a "historic" victory[ii]. Darmanin told reporters Wednesday that cannabis seizures had reached an all-time high of 128.6 tons, up 15% from 2021 and 47% from 2017. Cocaine worth 27.7 tons was also found in police and customs nets, representing a 5% rise over 2021. The authorities declared the greatest cocaine capture in French history on February 19, with 1.9 tons discovered in the commercial port of Havre.

According to Darmanin[iii], merchant boats account for around 80% of all cocaine trafficking, with the Caribbean islands and French Guiana accounting for 55% of cocaine reaching French coastlines. Finally, 1.4 tons of heroin, 273 kg of amphetamines and methamphetamines, and 1.5 million ecstasy and MDMA pills were recovered, according to Interior Ministry statistics. The results speak to the government's aggressive strategy to combat drug trafficking. A new anti-drug organization, OFAST, was launched in 2020 to better coordinate police and customs services. "It's the French-style DEA," Darmanin said. The fight, however, continues. "With drug trafficking and consumption comes insecurity, crime, organized crime, dirty money, terrorism, prostitution and child pornography," Darmanin said. Finance Minister Gabriel Attal also warned of the "intensity of the drug threat to national security," saying he was ready to combat the "white tsunami," alluding to France's ever-increasing desire for cocaine. According to the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Behaviors[iv], 600,000 French citizens used cocaine irregularly in 2022. At least 2.1 million people had tried it at least once. Furthermore, 18 million French people used marijuana at least once in 2022, with 1.3 million being regular users and 850,000 smoking daily. France has the second largest proportion of cannabis users in the EU as a percentage of the overall population, notably among 16-year-olds. The administration has made it plain that it does not support the legalization of cannabis.

France issues warning for 'drug tourism'

More than two tons of cocaine washed up on the coast in northern France. The report[v] has apparently triggered a form of "tourism." French authorities report that headlines of cocaine packages on the English Channel coast have attracted dozens of people who are now scouring the beaches. The prosecutor of Rennes, Philippe Astruc, therefore issues a warning against "drug tourism". He threatened those with up to ten years in prison "who take one of these packs and take it away." There is also a health hazard, he added. Consumption of the cocaine could be fatal, he said. Residents in the villages on the northern French coast had reported that many strangers had suddenly appeared, including in luxury cars and quad-terrain vehicles. They had been combing the sand on the beaches. The cocaine found on the beaches of Réville and Vicq-sur-Mer has an estimated market value of 150 million euros.

Synthetic drugs are becoming increasingly popular in Europe

They are called "bath salts," "cactus fertilizer" or "incense." New synthetic drugs of sometimes obscure chemical composition are gaining more and more popularity in the EU[vi]. This is according to the latest annual report published Tuesday by the Lisbon-based EU Drugs Monitoring Centre. According to the report, narcotics use remains very high in the 27 EU countries, although cannabis and cocaine use, as well as the number of first-time heroin users, appear to be declining slightly. Overall, today's drug market appears to rely less on herbal narcotics, which often have to travel long distances to reach Europe, according to the report. Facilitating the trade in new illicit drugs is the Internet, the report adds. The World Wide Web, it said, provides a mechanism for the rapid spread of addictive substances, while also being a "vast marketplace of global scope." According to the drug monitoring center's experts, 73 new psycho-drugs were discovered last year - up from 40 the year before. Many of these narcotics had similar effects to cannabis.