Large Fine For Man Who
Sent Marijuana To Members Of French Parliament;
He "Presented Drugs In A Favorable Light!"
May 7, 1998
See Six Month
Jail Term Urged For Reformers
Who Mailed Joints To French Parliamentarians To Encourage Debate(Ed. note: As a "publicity stunt," this was certainly
successful and the prosecutor did not get what he wanted. If NORML could get the US media
to report on the number of Americans arrested, it would certainly be worth what this cost.
Unfortunately, the American media are too busy running bogus numbers from the PDFA.)
PARIS (Reuters) - A French court Wednesday slapped a fine of 50,000 francs ($8,450) on
the leader of a group that mailed a marijuana cigarette to every French MP along with a
plea to ease France’s tough drug laws.
The fine against Jean-Pierre Galland, head of the Paris-based
Collective for Information and Research on Cannabis (CIRC), will be converted into a
prison term of 125 days if he refuses to pay it, the court said.
Galland was also ordered to pay a symbolic one franc in
damages to each of 11 deputies who had joined the suit as civil plaintiffs, and to pay an
additional 3,000 francs to each of two anti-drug associations that participated in the
case.
During his March 25 trial, Galland said the hand-rolled joints, made exclusively from
marijuana grown in France, had been sent to parliamentarians solely to encourage debate
about decriminalizing marijuana use.
But the Paris criminal court found him guilty of drugs trafficking, encouraging drug
use and presenting drugs in a favorable light.
(Ed. note: So much for liberty, equality and fraternity!)
State prosecutor Bernard Pages, accusing Galland of a serious crime, had recommended an
18-month jail sentence, one year of it to be suspended.
Some seven million of France’s approximately 60 million inhabitants have tried
marijuana at least once and about two million are regular users, according to official
estimates.
Hundreds of French residents are jailed each year and thousands are fined for use,
possession or sale of marijuana, according to the organization.
Supported