The Criminalization and Usage of Drugs in France in Contrast with Administrative Statistics

Law enforcement statistics show that the criminalization of drug use has grown increasingly systematic in France, which contradicts the commonly held opinion that the law of December 31, 1970, is being decreasingly enforced. Depending on the definition used for “criminalization,” the analysis of trends produces contrasting results. If criminalization of drug use is assessed in terms of the ratio between drug arrests and convictions, then it is clearly on the decline. However, if criminalization is defined as responding to drug use offenses with the instruments of criminal law, including pre-trial procedures, the criminalization of such offenses becomes more systematic and diversified from 1986 to 2009.