The post Calls to ban cash in war on drugs stirs cash-loving France appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

A minister’s proposal to ban cash as a crime-curbing measure has reignited public debate in France on the future of paper money and metal coins, still widely used in the country. The official himself admitted it will take some time and effort to convince French citizens to abandon their tangible money, as there is currently no political consensus on the matter. French minister claims banning cash will help fight drug crime Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has sparked discussions in France by suggesting that ending cash will improve results in combating narcotics distribution. Use of bank cards and payment apps has been growing in the country, but as the politician recognized, cash is still important for his compatriots. Darmanin pitched the idea during an appearance at the Senate, the upper house of parliament, on Thursday. His move rekindled debate on the fate of cash in the French Republic, a member of the European Union and its single currency area, the eurozone. Quoted by La Tribune, he stated: “How do we stop drugs from spreading in our neighborhoods? There’s a fairly simple measure: banning cash will prevent the establishment of drug dealing points.” The topic has been a subject of frequent rumors and disinformation campaigns on social media, the French weekly noted in an article, which also emphasized that “access to cash is a sensitive social issue” and “eliminating it would require political consensus and societal support.” A number of European governments have been trying to reduce its use, including the current one in Spain, where demand for cash spiked amid last month’s catastrophic power outage that disrupted electronic payments and took ATMs out of service. Gérald Darmanin: “Je l’ai dit (…) à ceux qui m’interrogent pour savoir comment on arrête la drogue dans nos quartiers. Une mesure assez simple : la…

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Filed under: News - @ May 24, 2025 1:29 pm