Updated

France is reportedly planning to test launch a series of "shooting galleries," where drug users can inject illegal drugs while under medical supervision.

"I hope that these experiments will be announced before the end of the year," health minister Marisol Touraine told a news station, according to AFP.

Not everyone is on board with the idea, as France's former education minister Luc Chatel reportedly called the program "irresponsible."

"This would be sending the wrong signal to our country’s young people," Chatel told Canal Plus television.

"I find it very worrying this is coming from the health minister, who is there to protect the French and young people," he said.

The practice is not entirely new to Europe, as similar programs are already in place in Britain and Germany, AFP reports.

France plans to launch the program by the end of the year.

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