France

Policy Development

France kept the same overall legislative/treaty structure. The December 31, 1970, law set the code of public health and defined both health approaches and repressive measures. It defined French approaches to trafficking, prohibited use of narcotics, and authorized free and anonymous care for users. Under that framework, circular letters and directives established tighter trafficking regulations, redefined offenses and penalties, and moved soft drug users away from the criminal to an administrative or nonpunitive system. The new penal code of 1994 looked a lot like that of 1970. France also was signatory to the UN Single Convention on Narcotics (1961), the Convention on Psychotropics (1971), and the Convention Against Illicit Trafficking of Narcotics and of [Page 307]Psychotropics (1988). French policy defined addiction as a psychological problem that psychotherapy could resolve; this contrasted with other Europeans’ approach to addiction as a biological/neurological problem requiring more than abstinence.

In 1994 only 77 drug users had access to methadone out of a population estimated at 160,000 heroin users. After three years of intense debate that included doctors, nongovernmental organizations, addicts, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) advocates, and others, France began shifting its policy in 1995. In 1998 France provided methadone and Subutex to about 70,000 users. Harm reduction measures also included needle exchanges and methadone.

Refinements came through a series of reports and studies including the Pelletier Report in 1978 that found that France needed an intermediate category between user and trafficker and that there needed to be less punishment and more treatment. Subsequent reviews—the Trautmann Report in 1989, and the Henrion Report in 1995—found, as did Pelletier, that coordination was deficient. Henrion did by a small majority recommend decriminalization of cannabis for personal use with restrictions on use by minors and professionals as well as restrictions on public intoxication and driving under the influence. Harm reduction continued to be a priority but abuses such as littering with used needles were intolerable.

The June 1999 triennial plan provided for prevention and palliation as part of the national policy. It did not supersede the law of 1970, which remained in effect, and drug use continued to be illegal. The new plan relied on international and European data and new reports and studies. The plan called for better data and data measurement, studies of drug abuse habits and substances, reviews of public policy, and in general better research. The triennial plan also called for better communication to the public about drugs and better communication among the various organizations involved in controlling drug use. Behavior modification rather than reliance on a specific product such as methadone was a preferred approach, and there needed to be better differentiation between use and addiction. Best practices were to be employed, and all elements of the drug problem community were to get onto the same page, with law and practice coming together and working toward the same goals.

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