A large dilapidated underground car park.
It is there, in the Hauts-de-Massane district, in Montpellier (Hérault) that Emmanuel Macron came to survey this Monday a point of deal dismantled by the police in March.
Mothers tell him about the violence that reigned in this sensitive neighborhood.
Flanked by the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, the Head of State questions them.
He trumpeted it in an interview with Figaro published the same morning: "We are dealing a deep blow to trafficking," he says.
And to add: “Every day we close a deal point.
"
While insecurity is climbing in the barometers of concern of the French, the Head of State does not intend to leave the ground to his opponents.
He even launched an initiative: “France has become a country of consumption and therefore, we must break this taboo, launch a major national debate on drug consumption and its deleterious effects.
In the government, few were in the confidence.
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Drugs, police forces, prison… Emmanuel Macron takes the front line on security
A big debate? For what outlets? Difficult to see clearly at this stage. In any case, "it is not for the president to travel around France as at the time of the yellow vests, but to raise awareness, for actions in particular on the education of the youngest and the empowerment of each. “, We explain to the Elysee. If the schedule is vague, the objective is educational: "We must re-explain the harmful effects of drugs in terms of health, safety, road safety", continues the Ministry of the Interior. A communication campaign is planned by the summer. In his interview, the president does not go dead hand: "To say that hashish is innocent is more than a lie", he said, opposing any "generalized decriminalization"."It will not be a national debate for or against legalization," said a close friend of the president.
The subject divides and remains sensitive within the majority
On the subject, the Head of State has gradually forged a conviction.
In 2016, Minister Macron was not opposed to a form of “legalization”, a method that has “a form of efficiency”, he said.
“It was not always clear, recalls a campaign history.
In his hesitation at the time of the campaign, he had allowed doubt to arise.
But the establishment of the fixed tort fine closes the debate, "says one of his followers.
This new policy dates from last September and marks a turning point.
Over 70,000 fines have been issued.
The subject divides and remains sensitive within the majority. In the Assembly, the LREM group took a stand against the recent bill by deputy François-Michel Lambert aimed at legalizing recreational cannabis. A text rejected by parliament. However, a number of walkers were in favor of it. Like, in June 2020, Joël Giraud. He has since entered the government as Minister of Rurality ...
"The president took advantage of these few days of respite, where does not speak only of health topics in the newspapers, to push the fire on sovereign themes", notes a communicator of the executive.
Other personalities will follow suit: Jean Castex and the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti are visiting a penitentiary center in the Haut-Rhin on Tuesday to confirm the creation of 8,000 prison places.
For her part, Marlène Schiappa launches her States General on secularism.
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The pre-electoral calendar does not seem foreign to this proliferation. "The right is pissed off by the president's interview," laughs an adviser to power. There isn't much she couldn't sign: police recruitments, jail places, the fight against narcotics, etc. As for the left, it will be able to see that there are mayors like that of Montpellier
(Editor's note: Michaël Delafosse)
, for whom security is a fundamental subject… ”