Faced with the low rate of collection of cannabis fines, which does not exceed 35%, Emmanuel Macron announced in an interview in Provence that they “can be paid immediately”, by credit card or in cash. 5,000 payment terminals should be fitted to agents by the end of the summer.
“We have implemented a fixed fine of up to 2,500 euros. 350,000 have been trained in France since September 2020, including 29,000 in Marseille. But what we have found is that as payment is made by telepayment between 45 and 60 days, we have a recovery rate of 35%. And it is below this average in Marseille. »
Calling the situation “unacceptable”, the Head of State asked “the Minister of the Interior to prepare a decree for the end of the summer, so that the payment of fines can be immediate, by bank card or in cash. We have started equipping agents with 5,000 payment terminals. It’s very concrete. »
It should also be possible to pay in cash, Emmanuel Macron told the Provençal daily.
The police union Unit SGP Police, presenting itself as the first union of the National Police, considers through the voice of its secretary general that the presidential announcement “is not a good idea”.
The police are not debt collectors!
AFD = simplify their work + sanction consumers
The charge of their recovery, going as far as cash, imposed on the police is not a good idea!
The Press Comm of@UNITESGPPOLICE below ⬇️#AFD pic.twitter.com/xZwK1yuw73— Gregory JORON (@gregjoronusgp) June 26, 2023
First tested in a few cities in France and then in Val-de-Marne, the system of fixed fines targeting drug users was then extended to all of France in September 2020. In Bouches-du-Rhône, 18 600 Pouillat fines, named after its instigator, were drawn up for the year 2022 alone, an increase of 50% over 2021, the first year of full application of this device, according to the police headquarters of Bouches-du-Rhône.
14 associations, most of which are now calling for the decriminalization of drugs in France, had rallied against the plan to penalize the simple use of cannabis, the Human Rights League having even appealed to the council of state.
