Legislation relating to cannabis use and possession: definitions and overview of the situation in Europe

However, the terms used in the debate are often not fully understood. Despite being regularly employed in public forums, the concepts of liberalisation, legalisation, depenalisation, decriminalisation and classification as a petty offence do not always have a commonly accepted definition. 

Some of these concepts have neither a dedicated general dictionary definition nor any legal value, since they describe political decision-making processes. 

Their use is therefore variable and, very often, ambiguous. In spite of international agreements making the supply of narcotics a criminal offence (production, trafficking, sale and possession), since 2012, four US states (Colorado, Washington State, Alaska, Oregon) and the District of Columbia (DC), and one Latin American country - Uruguay - have legalised the production, trade, possession and recreational use of cannabis for adults and implemented a mechanism for regulation of the cannabis market. 

These innovative initiatives have refueled the debate with respect to the legal status of the substance in Europe. 

Developed drawing on the references cited in the bibliography and with the help of legal experts and researchers specialising in penal matters, this note firstly presents a lexicon assembling a few proposals for the definition of the main terms used in the recurrent debates relative to the legal status of cannabis.

This is followed by an overview of current legislation concerning cannabis use and possession in France and Europe, along with a comparison of the most significant legislative changes outside Europe.