Wanderlust World Wanderlust World The longstanding drug laws in France took effect on Dec. 31, 1970. These laws forbade any drug use, making no distinction among different kinds of drugs, amounts used or circumstances. Before 1970, it was legal to use drugs in the privacy of your own home, and penalties were typically issued on a case-by-case basis. The 1968 protest movements are widely considered the reason for the stricter 1970s laws.
In March 1994, the strict drug laws were reformed by a new penal code that drew a distinction between possession and use. Buying and selling marijuana still fall under the 1970s laws and are prosecuted as more serious crimes with much longer sentences. In Western Europe, France is more conservative than Spain, where marijuana is medically legal, but less conservative than Portugal, where possession is aggressively prosecuted.
In 2010, the penalties for marijuana use and possession include a fine of 56 to 1680 euros and up to a year in prison. The courts take into account the circumstances of the use and amount used when determining the penalty, although increasingly, law enforcement is looking the other way and cases of personal use are never prosecuted, according to World Focus. Cultivation, possession of large quantities and trafficking are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.