The French government is about to make some drastic changes to the enforcement of cannabis use laws. A government spokesperson revealed that by the end of 2017, France will end all prison terms for cannabis users.

France will introduce a new law by the end of the year to soften punishments for cannabis use, officials say.

The legislation, a key promise of President Emmanuel Macron’s election campaign, will end prison terms for marijuana consumers.

But the changes will stop short of decriminalising use of the drug, according to government spokesman Christophe Castaner.

France is one of half-a-dozen countries in the EU that still criminalises cannabis use, in contrast to Portugal.

France intends to soon stop prosecuting marijuana possession with years of imprisonment, according to a statement by Gérard Collomb, the newly appointed interior minister.

Under new rules that are currently being developed, cannabis possession will be degraded from the highest status of crime to the lowest one, called "contravention" in the French judiciary system. As such, violators will no longer be subject to imprisonment; instead, people found in possession of marijuana will simply have to pay a fine of €100 ($111).

France’s national motto, dating back to the French Revolution, is “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.” How the two finalists for the French presidency embody those principles depends on how you define them.

Liberty can mean freedom from tyranny, but tyranny can take many forms: an overreaching government, poverty, or, in a sense, addiction to harmful and illegal drugs. Equality can mean everyone is treated the same under the law, or that potentially harmful vices are punished equally. Fraternity can mean solidarity among people with common interests, or it can mean people helping each other in ways such as helping drug addicts find drug rehabs instead of putting them in prison.

In rap and reggae tunes, the procession, composed of many young people but also of sick people, militant for the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes, departed shortly after 15 hours from Place de la Bastille to Place de la Bastille. Republic, behind a banner proclaiming: “Worldwide marijuana cannabis decriminalization self-production cannabis therapeutic. Another drug policy is possible “. This year, the march was advanced to stand between the two rounds of the presidential.

Four out of the five main candidates in the French presidential election support a relaxation of the country’s cannabis laws.

Under the current law, first passed in 1970, taking any illegal drug carries the risk of a one-year prison sentence and a fine of up to 3,750 euros.

However cannabis remains one of the most popular illegal drugs in France, with 47 per cent of 17-year-olds saying they have tried it, according to a recent survey by the French Observatory for Drugs and Addiction.

Four of the top five candidates at the Elysée want an evolution of the law. Until now, only the "small parties" proposed the contravention or the legalization. The actors on the ground are divided.