Swiss Hemp Shops

[nEone]

Hey,


I wonder if any members have any information on Swiss "Hemp Shops". A few years ago, using a loophole in Swiss laws, shops started selling "hemp pillows" and other products. For the most part, the authorities turned a blind eye towards it, and shops sprung up all over. But that was a few years ago and there were some busts, etc.


Are these shops around?


Mostly, I'm interested in Geneva since I'm going there to visit soon. Are there shops in Geneva or the surrounding cities (Lausanne, Nyon, etc) ? Is there any particular protocol that needs to be followed to stay legal (like in the US, you can't sell "bongs" but you can sell "water-pipes".) ?


Thanks for any info!

[Sick Jack]

Just forget about the french speaking part of Switzerland, you will not find any canna shops in this area because on the French influence on police and judges.

That's in the German speaking part of Switzerland that you will eventually find some hemp shops. Bienne, Bern, Zürich...But the situation is still not really clear and the shops can still be busted by the cops...

If you come in the streets across some "rappers", just ask them if they know a coffeeshop, this people are generally well informed about this kind of subjects ;-P

[nEone]

Hi, I just got back. Thanks for your reply.


From my experience, this is pretty accurate. There ARE cannabis stores in the French cities (I found one in Lausanne and one in Geneva), but the rule in the French area seems to be that they can sell growing supplies, seeds, and baby plants, but nothing "ready-to-smoke".


I didn't make it to the German or Italian parts, but apparently you can still find stores there that sell "herb pillows" and the like.


For all of its conservative politics, Switzerland seems to be pretty progressive.

[Sick Jack]

That's right, in the French part you only find "growshops", but in the German/Italian speaking parts it's possible to find real cannabis shops, which sell pot.

[elbow]

I've been doing research on the 'net, and I understand a bit of German,
but I'm still having difficulty figuring out the situation in Basel.



I gather that the hemp shops there are now only selling accessories and
not grass or hash itself. I will probably try the "ask a rapper" thing
when I get there.



Actually, I have hardly been smoking lately...but I do want to try some
of the swiss weed that I've been hearding about. I wonder if it has
that alpine flavor?

[Sick Jack]

I would advice you, if you come across a "hemp shop", to buy indoor weed. Lastly it has become difficult to grow weed outdoor and the last samples that I had were fucking crap. Hash and indoor weed are better and easier to purchase.

You can ask to any "alternative" looking youngster

[elbow]

Thanks for the advice, I didn't realize the quality of outdoor weed in
Switzerland wasn't good these days. A few years ago in Holland I bought
the most amazing homemade swiss hash, it tasted phenomenal and came in
sort of a round disk weighing about 7 grams and costing 100 guilders,
which seemed like a huge amount of money at the time. But considering
the quality of the hash it really was worth it.