FRENCH ARTISTS CHALLENGE JUDGES OVER DRUGS LAW

MORE than 100 French artists and intellectuals have signed a petition
admitting to taking soft drugs and offering themselves for prosecution,
WRITES JOHN LICHFIELD in Paris.

The intention is partly to embarrass the government of Lionel Jospin, but
mostly to embarrass the judiciary, which has brought a number of legal
cases against high-profile campaigners for the legalisation of cannabis and
other drugs.

The signatories of the "petition of 111" include the 1960s Franco-German
political activist, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the film director Patrice Chereau,
the fashion designer and president of Paris Opera, Pierre Berge, and the
actress Marina Vlady. The petitioners state: "At one moment or other of my
life, I have consumed stupefying drugs. I know that in admitting publicly
that I am a drug user, I can be prosecuted. This is a risk I am ready to
take."

The motive is to draw attention to the hypocrisies and inconsistencies of
government policy and the application of the French anti-drugs law. Public
admission to drugs-taking can be prosecuted in France as an incitement to
use by others.

The president of Act-Up, a group campaigning for the legalisation of soft
drugs, appeared in court this week for distributing a tract called "I like
ecstasy". A counter-culture newspaper, L'Elephant Rose was forced into
bankruptcy recently after being prosecuted under the same law. No action
was taken, however, against others like the pop singer Johnny Hallyday and
the Justice Minister Elisabeth Guignou, who have also spoken frankly about
drugs.

Mr Jospin said he favoured the decriminalisation of cannabis during the
election campaign last May. His government has stepped back from that
position but measures are expected soon to allow experimental use of
cannabis in hospitals.