Drugs and Politics : Does he take Cocaine ?

Political decision makers have jobs with high responsibilities. Their decisions impact the lives of millions of citizens. They vote laws for taxes or for Covid measures, they decide if troops are sent to a war zone or not. Political functions require a good physical and mental health.

Compulsory drug tests can prove the health and respect of the law by mayors, delegates, ministers and heads of governments. Politicians that get identified as drug addicts can be proposed immediately the best therapies available.

Concrete examples of politicians that were caught with drugs

Countless politicians have told to have smoked Marihuana in their youth, starting with the former US president Bill Clinton, who informed that he « smoked it without inhaling ».

Ex-President Barack Obama mentions in his book « Dreams from my father » to have used « pot » too, and that he got « a little blow (Cocaine) « when he could afford it. Obama does not give the official names of the two different substances he used, but only the slang expressions that are not known by all law-abiding citizens.  

In any way, Clinton and Obama speak about periods of their lives, when they were not yet active politicians. But there are others that buy illegal substances while they are working for example in the national parliament. These politicians use the money of taxpayers to finance criminals. The problem concerns parties of the full political spectrum.

In Germany, Crystal Meth seems to be quite popular among some politicians. It was the drug of choice of Volker B. (from the Green Party)  and Michael H. (from the Socialist Party) . By the way : both politicians got the chance to continue to work as member of the parliament.

In France, the delegate of the french parliament Andy K. (from the party La France Insoumise) got caught with the substance 3 MMC .

Emmanuel P. (from Macron’s Renaissance-Party) left the parliament after press articles on his alleged Cocaine consumption.

Another french politician, Joël G. (from the Horizons party) was caught with MDMA – also called Liquid Ecstasy or the « rapist drug ».

Joël G. has used this substance when he invited a female parliament colleague into his apartment. The woman was offered a glass of champaign by G., but after the first sips she got dizzy. She could escape from the flat in extremis and get treatment in a hospital. Mister Joël G. said he wanted to use the substance for himself « to get euphoric », and that he gave the wrong glass to his colleague …

In all these cases, there is always the presumption of innocence for the concerned persons, until a final court decision. Sometimes, the quantity of the drugs absorbed does not lead to a prison sentence, but just to a monetary fine.

Drug-consuming politicians support Organized Crime

Illegal drug traffic is a huge international business that generates crime and violence over its full supply chain, from the production sites in foreign countries over the transport to Europe to the final delivery to the consumer.

The United Nations aim to raise awareness about the complex relation between the consumption of illegal substances and the power of organized criminal networks. The 26 june of each year is the « International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking » of the UN – also called the « World Drug Day ».

A specialized office of the UN monitors drugs and crimes worldwide – the UNODC. It publishes the « World Drug Report » with detailed statistics on the drug use in various countries.

Each politician that takes illegal drugs supports international criminal networks. What makes it even worse, is the fact, that this is done with public money from tax payers.

Escalation of violence related to drug traffic : the example of France

With various degrees of intensity, many european countries have problems such as drug dealing in front of schools and No-Go-Areas where drug traffickers hold the de facto governance.

In France, massive violence is associated with the illegal narcotics trade. Employees of french seaports get threatened by drug dealers that want to ensure the undisturbed unloading of their substances.

Many big cities have districts that are controlled by drug gangs. Marseille is one of the hotspots of shootings by drug traffickers in France. 31 people got killed there in 2021, again 31 in 2022, and in 2023 there were even 48 fatalities – among them some innocent people that became collateral damages.

One of the victims of the year 2023 was the student Socayna. A bullet from a Kalashnikov perforated the wall of the apartment building and killed the young woman  inside the flat. Her mother spoke on french TV about this moment :  

« I found my daughter in a puddle of blood. I turned her body. There were no cheeks anymore, no teeth anymore, there was nothing. It was a minor of 15 years that killed my daughter with a weapon of war. Is France in a war and we did not know it ? « (The mother of Socayna, killed by drugdealers in 2023)

In may 2024, there was a brutal assault on a prison transport of the detainee Mohamed Amra who is linked to high level narcotics traffic. When the two police cars stopped at a highway tollgate in Normandy, they were attacked by an armed commando. Two prison guards were killed, three others were injured. The detainee was liberated. After having been put on the Interpol Most Wanted Criminals List, Amra was arrested in 2025 in Romania.

The advantages of compulsory drug tests for politicians  

Politicians have jobs with very high responsibilities. Their decisions impact the lives of millions of citizens. They vote laws for taxes, for Covid measures, and they decide if soldiers are sent to a war zone or not. All these decisions require a good physical and mental health.

The first advantage of compulsory drug tests is therefore the health proof of mayors, delegates, ministers and heads of governments. Who wants to have a member of parliament that votes austerity measures when he is high on drugs ? Who wants to see a minister that has withdrawal symptoms during an international summit ? Politicians that get identified as pathological drug addicts can be proposed a professional therapy of course.

The second advantage is to fight international criminal structures that organize the distribution of illegal drugs, often with a high level of violence.

The third advantage is to avoid the risk of blackmailing of politicians. If criminal networks know that a certain politician is a drug user, they may force him into certain actions. A concrete example for this is the so-called « Ibiza Scandal » of Austria in 2019. A convicted drug dealer organised a sting operation against the austrian vice-chancellor. The question, to which level drugs were used, is not fully answered yet, but the publication of a video showing the sting operation led to the breakup of the government.  

The fourth advantage is the creation of a transparent discussion basis for general drug politics and potential liberalisation strategies.

Some observers distinguish a « pathological drug consumption » from a « recreational drug use ». They argue that a « moderate recreational use » (at least of some substances) does not threaten the health of the consumer – at least not more than alcohol does. Some people even defend the concept of « the right to inebriation « – which should not be excluded from an unbiased general discussion neither.  

Compulsory drug tests for high ranking politicians would reveal the percentage of drug consumers among them – both pathological and recreational users. As soon as the number of recreational drug using politicians will be identified, there can be a discussion of the question if recreational substance use shall be granted only to the political elite or to ordinary citizens too.

Are drug tests for politicians too intrusive in their personal life ? 

Without any doubt, all kind of tests that concern sensitive and confidential health data, are very intrusive in the personal life of people. But for some groups in society similar intrusions are either accepted or even a standard protocol.

In some countries (i.e. in France), each employee of a company has to undergo periodical medical exams to prove his medical fitness for the job. This exam often contains a urine test and questions about the consumption of alcohol.

During the Covid-WHO-Pandemics regular citizens had to do frequent tests, just to be allowed to do everyday-life actions such as going to work or eating in a restaurant. 

For athletes doping tests are a standard procedure. Unfortunately there is a long list of high profile sportsmen with positive doping test results. From the Tour-de-France-Winner Lance Armstrong to the soccer World Champion Paul Pogba.

Given the very high responsibilities of political decision makers, there is no logical reason why they should not get tested for illegal drugs. This would help as well the United Nations in the effort to fight international crime in the area of illegal drug trafficking.

In 2025, the mayor of the french city of Grenoble proposed such compulsory drug tests for politicians – together with the proposition of a referendum concerning the legalisation of Cannabis in France.