Since September 1, this device in the amount of 200 euros, which includes a registration in the criminal record, has been used everywhere in France and mainly targets cannabis smokers.
In total, 43,500 fines were drawn up on February 24, explains Rennes prosecutor Philippe Astruc, who oversees the national center for handling offenses.
While it is still too early to assess their recovery after dispute, around 40% of offenders have paid them spontaneously.
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Narcotics: five questions on the generalization of the fixed fine
The fine supports a "penal policy [...] of
user
empowerment
in order to weigh negatively on demand", welcomes the magistrate.
Between September and the end of January, offenses for drug use increased by 19.5% compared to the same period a year earlier, according to calculations made by AFP using data from the Ministry of the Interior.
900 euros after increase
However, this increase in sanctions did not dissuade Marc *.
Former server in the Paris region, now unemployed, he was arrested twice in September at the exit of an "oven", a real deal supermarket at the foot of the towers of Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis).
"It hurts 400 euros, but anyway, I can not pay them", evacuates the young man of 26, who has not settled anything and saw the slate swell to 900 euros after increase.
"It does not change my drink," says the one who continues to grill "five to eight joints a day".
However, he smokes less frequently in the street and has deserted the point of sale to obtain supplies directly from the home of a dealer.
The fine was erected as a symbol of the anti-drug war led by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, in France, a European champion of cannabis consumption, despite one of the most repressive legislation on the continent.
After six months of existence, the Bouches-du-Rhône, Seine-Saint-Denis, the North, Paris and the Rhône are the most verbalized departments, according to the Rennes prosecutor.
Avoid procedural hours
The actors who use it are however divided on its contribution.
On the justice side, the fine "does not change anything in terms of flow and workload since drug users were already the subject of a simplified procedure before", explains the Bobigny prosecutor's office.
On the other hand, the police officers in the Paris region contacted praised a “saving of time”, which avoided hours of proceedings for meager results.
"Two hundred euros is more concrete than a reminder of the law," said one of them.
The time saved allows investigators "to be more focused on the investigation and dismantling work" of networks, said another.
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National investigator delegate at SGP Police Unit, Yann Bastière remains circumspect.
"Many already know how to get around the fine, it is enough not to have an identity document", deplores the trade unionist.
"There are always so many consumers"
"It is a real false good idea", slice Frédéric Lagache, general delegate of the Alliance union, pointing to "heaviness" that risk compromising its long-term use.
"The guy must not be a minor, he must admit the facts, he must have papers on him.
[…] It takes a long time, with a real risk that the spirits will heat up.
"Above all," there are always as many consumers on the points of deal ", he observes.
In Montpellier, Lila, who admits her “addiction”, was caught rolling a firecracker after work.
"I explained to the cops that I try to wean myself by mixing more and more CBD (non-psychotropic molecule of cannabis, editor's note), but they no longer even try to understand," sighs this 23-year-old waitress.
"The cliché of the war on drugs systematically leads to the war on drug addicts", annoys Nathalie Latour, general delegate of the Addiction Federation, which represents several thousand health professionals.
"For 50 years we have had this kind of ineffective postures," she adds, regretting that the government "has not included the fine in a comprehensive plan that really insists on prevention".
