Zero tolerance. Government spokesman Olivier Véran said on Tuesday that there was no “social” or “political” tolerance for drugs like cocaine, after the road accident of comedian Pierre Palmade in in which a pregnant woman lost her unborn child.
“I do not believe that there is a social, societal and even less political tolerance vis-à-vis such and such a drug on the pretext that such and such a public consumes it more favorably”, affirmed Olivier Véran on France 2, asked about the accident in which the comedian tested positive for cocaine and drugs.
“Cocaine, opiates, are extremely dangerous drugs with an extremely powerful addictive power and which lead to human tragedies which we must avoid by all means”, he added.
The objective of doubling controls
Olivier Véran reiterated the objective of doubling the controls of driving under the influence of drugs: “We carry out nearly 500,000 controls per year of driving under the influence of narcotics and we intend to double them”, added he explained.
“These are goals that are not new. We are increasing the number of controls, because nearly one in five deaths linked to a road accident is linked to the taking of narcotics. It’s 700 deaths a year, two a day, ”he lamented. “There is already an increase in criminal offenses if you cause a fatal accident under the influence of narcotics”, recalled the government spokesperson.
At 54, Pierre Palmade was seriously injured on Friday in a car accident, which left three other seriously injured: a 40-year-old man and his six-year-old son, as well as a pregnant woman who has since lost her baby.