Zero tolerance against drugs in France: several high-ranking officials suspended for testing positive

ParisThe French government has not wanted to make the names public nor give concrete figures, but "several" senior officials and close collaborators of ministers have been suspended from their duties after testing positive for drugs. The Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, had ordered random tests to be carried out on officials holding high positions or in places where they have access to sensitive information, on diplomats and on members of ministerial cabinets. Hundreds of people have undergone them, including ambassadors, heads of cabinet and also all ministers.

"Members of ministerial cabinets and most senior officials have access to extremely sensitive information. Drug use makes you vulnerable. And we cannot condemn the murders of 16-year-olds in working-class neighborhoods and, at the same time, tolerate [drug] use among the elites," Lecornu justified in an interview with Paris Match, where he confirmed that several senior officials who tested positive have been suspended. In fact, before launching the initiative, two senior officials – one of them from the Prime Minister's cabinet – had already been removed from their duties for drug use, although they later returned to their jobs.

Mandatory saliva drug tests will continue to be carried out randomly in ministries, as the Prime Minister has warned. Lecornu does not seem willing to back down, even though the campaign is not without controversy and some voices have questioned its legality. The use of narcotics, especially cocaine and cannabis, in political circles and in the administration – in France it is extremely competitive – has always been a taboo and the Prime Minister's intention is to break it, especially now that the French government has made the fight against drugs and drug trafficking one of its main battle horses.

"I consider drug trafficking to be the main internal challenge facing and that our country will face in the coming years. Nearly a million French people regularly consume cocaine, and this affects all social strata. The number of overdoses and hospitalizations is skyrocketing," Lecornu warned in the same interview with Paris Match.

Focus on consumers

The National Assembly approved this Tuesday a new law against drug trafficking that focuses not only on drug traffickers but also on consumers. The so-called Ripost law toughens repression against drug consumers by increasing fines – which go from 200 to 500 euros – and makes drug consumption a criminal record. "There is a clear will from the government to sanction consumers. They can no longer remain on the sidelines of all this, of the revenge and drug trafficking. This is no longer acceptable," defended the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, at the Assembly.

The Prime Minister's policy of zero tolerance for drug use in ministries is part of this context of also targeting consumers. For the Prime Minister, members of his government and senior officials must set an example for citizens. Lecornu has made it clear that he expects the next one to continue conducting tests in the ministry corridors.