Weed and other drug fines in France: the 2026 amount, deadlines and how to contest

The amount depends on the date of the facts, not the date of the notice: for facts from 20 August 2026 the French drug fine is 500 euros, 400 euros if paid within 15 days and 1,000 euros after 45 days; for earlier facts it stays at 200, 150 or 450 euros.

This follows article 112-1 of the French Criminal Code (Code pénal): only the penalties in force on the day of the facts can apply. Use recorded on 10 August 2026 and notified in September therefore costs 200 euros. The 15 and 45 day periods run from the police check, or from the date the notice was sent if it was posted later (article 495-18 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

According to the Public Health Code, drug use remains an offence (délit) punishable by one year in prison and a 3,750 euro fine. The fixed fine is an alternative: paying it ends the prosecution.

Yes: a paid French drug fine is entered on the national criminal record (casier judiciaire), and since 20 August 2026 it also appears on the bulletin n° 2 extract for 3 years.

Article 768 (11°) of the Code of Criminal Procedure records the fine once it is paid, or once the deadline to challenge the increased fine has passed. The entry is removed after 3 years if, in that time, you have no criminal conviction and no new fixed fine for an offence (article 769, 11°).

The bulletin n° 2 is the extract seen by some public bodies and employers, for instance for regulated jobs. Before 20 August 2026 fixed fines were kept off it; article 775 (17°) now keeps them off only 3 years after payment. You can ask a court to remove the entry from the bulletin n° 2 (article 775-1). At its hearing of 15 April 2026, the Cour des comptes said the recording of these fines on the criminal record was not yet working technically. The French record is national: these rules do not decide what your own country’s authorities record.

If you only receive the increased-fine notice, you can file a reasoned complaint (réclamation motivée) within 30 days of it being sent; this cancels the enforcement order and sends the case back to the prosecutor.

Article 495-19 of the Code of Criminal Procedure adds that the complaint stays admissible until the penalty is time-barred if there is no proof that you knew of the increased fine, for example through a seizure. Send it by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt, on the attached form, with a deposit equal to the increased fine: 1,000 euros for facts from 20 August 2026 (article 495-20).

If you do not dispute the facts but cannot pay, write to the public accountant named on the notice. They can grant time or a partial or total remission, possibly with a 20 % reduction (article 495-24). According to the French public finances directorate (DGFiP, answer published 3 June 2025), 126,535 increased drug fines were passed to it for collection in 2024.