Pubdate: Nov 25, 1998 Source: Le Temps (Switzerland) Contact: http://www.letemps.ch/ Copyright: Le Temps 1998 Author: Sylvie Arsever Translation: Peter Webster & Boris Ryser (from French) FEDERAL REFERENDUM: The Swiss production of cannabis for smoking passed from 10 hectares in 1994 to 250 today: An explosion that is forcing politics to consider the problem. THE AFTERMATH OF DROLEG WILL BE DOMINATED BY THE DEBATE ON THE LEGAL STATUS OF CANNABIS. Sunday, after a very low-key campaign, the Swiss people will say if they wish to reverse a century-long policy and begin a controlled distribution of all narcotics. There is little doubt about the result of the vote, and the only question of interest will be the magnitude of the defeat: will it be more or less than the "Youth Without Drugs" initiative, defeated in Spetember 1997 by a 71% majority? In a larger sense, the test poses a question that is becoming a critical political issue: the status of cannabis in Swiss law. Legal Uncertainty The defenders of hemp always supported Droleg. But at the time Droleg was launched, there were many more urgent problems, such as the open-air scenes of addiction and their dramatic health and humanitarian consequences for addicts [referring to the Zurich Spitzplatz open-air drug scene]. Today, the diversification of care and treatment methods, prescription of heroin and the dissolution of open-air markets such as the Spitzplatz have cooled this debate. But the debate on cannabis has emerged in full force. As a result of the uncertain legal situation and the tolerance shown by several Cantonal authorities, the production of cannabis has grown by leaps and bounds. Today, as opposed to plantations of low-THC hemp which amount to 60 hectares, there are 250 hectares devoted to cannabis destined for use as a drug. In 1994, the latter represented only 10 hectares. Similarly, the number of shops selling cannabis grew from six to 135. Increasingly, Swiss cannabis growers are exporting their product. In Saint-Gall, the authorities recently put an end to the activities of a cannabis-producing enterprise that employed no less than twenty people. Directed by a German, this company was essentially concerned with export, noted the judge Thomas Hansjakob, who directed the investigation. Also significant was the fact that no one contested his allegations, in requesting local authorization, that he worked for a professor of pharmacology in Bern who is currently conducting research on the medicinal properties of the THC (see below). The "grey" market in cannabis seems to have largely replaced the black market. There is no evidence to indicate that this has increased the number of cannabis users. In any case, the development has not resulted in a major deterioration of public order, and the population seems, on the whole, to have accommodated the change without perception of scandal. But even if the "grey" market is an improvement over the black market for the consumer, it is still not a regulated market. "It is notoriously far more accessible for adolescents than a true regulated market would be," says Thomas Hansjakob, who was a supporter of DROLEG. But the size of the [recently prosecuted cannabis] enterprise has led to a hardening of posistion by the courts and the police in several cantons, especially Saint Gall. The Commission of Experts Until now, the specialists duly consulted each time the Swiss political situation concerning drugs was under consideration refused to distinguish between the status of cannabis and those of other illegal drugs, preferring to recommend -- for nearly ten years now -- a general decriminalisation of drug use. Today, however, this option is again being questioned, firstly because it seems politically unrealistic. And secondly because the continuing -- and exploited -- uncertainty concerning cannabis seems more and more unsupportable. Parliamentry initiatives demanding a revision of its status are increasing. An Expert Commission's report on cannabis will appear next April. And cannabis supporters say they are ready to present a new initiative to advance their cause. In short: both partisans and adversaries of liberalisation of the status of cannabis are ready to contest the matter. IS THC A MEDICINE? SHOULD RESEARCH BE CONDUCTED? The active substance of the cannabis should have interesting "antispasmodic" effects. In the United States, the debate concerning cannabis has been oriented around possible therapeutic properties of its active ingredient, THC, and it is thanks to these medicinal properties that some U.S. States now permit its use. In Switzerland, defenders of cannabis prefer to stress the minimal danger of this substance compared with alcohol, for example. But if not directly concerned with the debate on law, the medical question is pertinant. In Basel, research is in progress on the antispasmodic virtues of THC. A medicine based on synthetic THC (and not cultivated at Saint Gall?) is used for paraplegics to help them combat the violent muscle spasms which result from their condition. "We are still researching this question," comments its director, Rudi Brenneisen. "But we can already say that this product compares favorably for the replacement of classic remedies such as the benzodiazepines and analgesics." This medicine is now authorized for use only in the U.S. as an anti-emetic. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake