French Socialist wants decriminalise hashish

PARIS, April 27 (Reuter) French opposition Socialist leader Lionel Jospin,
saying he had twice smoked hashish in his life, told a television interviewer
on Sunday he wanted to decriminalise use of the drug if his party wins a snap
parliamentary election.

``I did it once in the United States, with a young woman, and I think once in
France,'' Jospin said in the interview with Canal Plus television about a
1995 admission that he had smoked hashish.

He said his party would decriminalise the drug if it emerged victorious from
the twostage polling on May 25 and June 1. ``Legalising sounds like
justifying, penalising is absurd. I think we have to find a line somewhere
between the two,'' he said.

France now forbids any use of narcotics and has frequently clashed with the
Netherlands, where small amounts of soft drugs are tolerated.