French lawmakers divided over lawmaker caught buying drugs

PARIS – French politicians are deeply divided over the fate of lawmaker Andy Kerbrat, caught last week buying synthetic drugs, and whether his breach of the law should prompt him to resign.

Kerbrat, of the far-left party France Unbowed, acknowledged the facts in a statement to X on Tuesday, apologizing to his constituents and blaming his personal drug use on “personal problems and psychological frailties.”

The 34-year-old also said he will “fight his addiction” and “follow a treatment protocol” before resuming his parliamentary activity.

Kerbrat was not arrested and was questioned at the police station where he went freely the next day.

Left-leaning lawmakers came to the rescue, accepting Kerbrat’s argument that his personal use is, first and foremost, a symptom of a larger public health problem.

The leader of the France Unbowed party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, expressed to X his “very kind support” for the fight against addiction.

Greens Senator Melanie Vogel wished the MP “good luck” with his treatment, stressing that “drug use and addictions have always been public health issues”. most: cure”.

Sandrine Rousseau, also a Green MP, told reporters she did not think Kerbrat should resign. People who use synthetic drugs, he said, are often “fragile” and “sometimes with psychological problems.”

Others strongly disagree.

Conservative French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau called on Kerbrat to “extract the consequences of his actions”.

“A deputy has a duty to set an example,” Retailleau wrote in X. “While drug crimes have taken hold in France, with its procession of violence, it is not tolerable to see a lawmaker buying synthetic drugs from a street dealer “.

Laurent Jacobelli, another member of The Republicans party, said that while Kerbrat might need treatment, “he is above all guilty, he violated the law, and for someone who is supposed to write it, it is quite embarrassing”.

Opinion pieces in various media outlets also criticized what they see as an inadequate defense strategy.

The French magazine Marianne has recalled Kerbrat’s recent position in the media on drug trafficking and its consequences.

A few days before the incident, Kerbrat had signed an online petition calling for the new government to “take urgent and specific measures” and address a “growing phenomenon”.