Pubdate: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2001 San Jose Mercury News Contact: 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190 Fax: (408) 271-3792 Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Forum: http://forums.bayarea.com/webx/cgi-bin/WebX SWISS GOVERNMENT DECIDES TO LEGALIZE POT USE The Swiss government Friday endorsed a draft law that would legalize the consumption of marijuana and hashish and allow a limited number of "dope shops." The bill submitted to parliament seeks to bring Swiss law in line with the reality that one-fourth of the people aged 15-24 regularly use the drugs in the Alpine state, according to a poll commissioned last month by the Swiss government. "Decriminalizing the consumption of cannabis and the acts leading up to this takes account of social reality and unburdens police and the courts," the government said in a statement. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth