Switzerland, Possibility of Cannabis Decriminalisation

[grecian]

This article is about 2 weeks old now and I'm yet to find a follow up so if anyone knows whats going on here please share!

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/search/R...st&sid=8469963

Cannabis is set to make news headlines again this week when parliament meets to discuss a plan to decriminalise the psychoactive drug.
Switzerland became notorious for its liberal drugs policy in the late 1980s but public opinion has changed in the meantime. Recent studies on the negative impact of cannabis appear to back opponents of moves towards decriminalisation.

Geri Müller, a Green Party parliamentarian and senior member of the committee behind the people's initiative, is convinced that the fight for the hallucinogenic drug is not lost.

"I think there is widespread agreement that the current situation is untenable. And the vote in the House of Representatives could be close," he said.

Müller says many of the newly elected parliamentarians, even of conservative and rightwing parties, have campaigned on a liberal drugs policy.

However, three of the four main parties in the House have come out against the proposal. Only the centre-left Social Democrats are officially in favour.

The proposal aims at decriminalising cannabis consumption under strict
rules.

The trade in hallucinogenic hemp would not be permitted outright, but
controlled by the authorities in a bid to crack down on illegal dealers,
according to the people's initiative handed in with more than 106,000
signatures in January 2006.

Supporters of a liberal cannabis drugs say it makes no sense to treat
the estimated 500,000 regular or occasional pot smokers in Switzerland
like criminals.

Müller is not discouraged by a number of scientific studies that have
highlighted the damaging effects of cannabis consumption, and an
apparent shift in public opinion among the young generation.

"The young generation is more concerned about the problems of binge
drinking and violence. The cannabis issue seems to have lost in
importance, particularly in schools," he said.

Ten days ago an official assembly of young people clearly rejected the
new initiative, saying it sent the wrong signal to teenagers who might
smoke cannabis and later become addicted to hard drugs.

Müller dismisses many of the studies as "irrelevant", saying the
scientific community is far from unanimous in its assessment of cannabis.

A study by Zurich University claimed cannabis smokers were more likely
to develop schizophrenia. Other researchers said the regular use of the
hallucinogenic drug could damage a smoker's lungs.

Expert views

Drug experts have repeatedly called for a more pragmatic approach to
cannabis and for a compromise between individual responsibility and the
needs of society for law and order.

The Lausanne-based Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and
Drug Abuse is in favour of decriminalising cannabis, but argues the
initiative is not the right way to go about it.

"Too many questions remain open, notably about growing cannabis for
self-consumption," said spokeswoman Monique Helfer.

She says it's not the task of the institute to encourage young people to
smoke pot. Prevention is a key element of the drugs policy, she adds.

Regardless of the outcome of the debate in the House of Representatives
on Wednesday, the Senate still has to discuss the proposal before it
will go to a nationwide vote. No date has been set for the ballot.

During the three-week winter session, parliament is also due to continue
a revision of the law on narcotics. The main aim is to enshrine the
government's four-pillar strategy of repression, prevention, therapy and
harm reduction into law/

Switzerland received widespread attention for its public drug scenes in
the country's major cities in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Voters subsequently rejected opposite initiatives seeking to tighten or
ease the official drugs policy. A government proposal to decriminalise
cannabis was thrown out by parliament in 2004.

[zera]

As I understand it cannabis is basically openly sold in hempshops in Switzerland already. But maybe, I misinterpreted.

Anyway I don't understand the rationale of "Well we don't want to send people the message that using drugs is alright, they can ruin your life, so lets preemptively ruin the life of anyone who uses."

This makes about as much sense as police officers summarily executing anyone they catch driving without a seatbelt. "See there, public. Not wearing your seatbelt actually does kill you!"

Reputation Comments on this post:

Very well put, so true.

[crai]

These hempshops who openly sold hemp were all closed around 2004/2005, but now there still exist shops, which are selling it not so very open anymore, but it is still around.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Thanks for the info

[psychedelaholic]

When SWIM went to Switzerland he was able to smoke a spliff on a packed train on the way there (going from Austria) without getting in any trouble despite the guards knowing what SWIM was doing. When he arrrived at his hostel in Interlaken SWIM found that the hostel openly grew their own weed and there were always plenty of dealers walking around. SWIM informs me this was 3 years ago.