GENEVA -- Philippe, 36, works for that abiding symbol of Swiss respectability -- a bank. He also likes to relax with a joint of marijuana after work. Until very recently, it looked as though his habit might soon cease to be a crime. But then Parliament killed government-backed legislation that would have decriminalized cannabis consumption. Last month's narrow 96-89 vote was ironic, because it leaves Switzerland -- a pioneer in drug liberalization -- on the "no" side in a gradual European trend toward softening marijuana laws. [continues 297 words]
GENEVA - Philippe, 36, works for that abiding symbol of Swiss respectability - a bank. He also likes to relax with a joint of marijuana after work. Until very recently it looked as though his habit might soon cease to be a crime. But then Parliament killed government-backed legislation that would have decriminalized cannabis consumption. Last month's narrow 96-89 vote was ironic, because it leaves Switzerland - a pioneer in drug liberalization - on the "no" side in a gradual European trend toward softening the marijuana laws. [continues 742 words]
In what would have been considered a surprise move up until recent weeks, the Swiss House of Representatives refused to pass a government-sponsored drug bill that would have legalized marijuana consumption and sales and set up a permanent framework for legally prescribed heroin. On September 25, the Swiss parliament's lower house voted 96-89 to take no action on the bill after an emotional debate. The bill will now go back to parliament's upper chamber, the Council of State, which approved it in December 2001 (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/177/swissdecrim.shtml). The Council of State can revise the bill or simply send it back to the House for reconsideration in a future session -- after the pending elections, which some blame for making it more difficult to pass the bill. [continues 802 words]
GENEVA -- Philippe, 36, works for that abiding symbol of Swiss respectability - a bank. He also likes to relax with a joint of marijuana after work. Until very recently it looked as though his habit might soon cease to be a crime. But then Parliament killed government-backed legislation that would have decriminalized cannabis consumption. Last month's narrow 96-89 vote was ironic, because it leaves Switzerland - a pioneer in drug liberalization - on the "no" side in a gradual European trend toward softening the marijuana laws. [continues 742 words]
BERN, Switzerland -- Ignoring the appeals of its health minister, the Swiss parliament Thursday blocked government moves to decriminalize cannabis and put state prescription of heroin on a permanent legal footing. After an emotional debate, the National Council voted 96-89 to take no action on the government's proposed narcotics law revision. This means the legislation will be kicked back to the Council of States, the upper house, which approved it in December 2001. Plans to decriminalize consumption and, under certain conditions, production and sale of cannabis - which in Switzerland refers to marijuana and other soft drugs - lay at the heart of the legislation. [continues 337 words]
Government plans to decriminalise dope smoking have been thrown out by the House of Representatives. The Senate had already approved legislation that would allow possession and production of cannabis for personal use, as well as limited trade in the drug. The bill will now have to go back to the Senate. The proposal, which would have left Switzerland with one of the most liberal policies on cannabis in Europe, has aroused passions on both sides of the debate. Luzi Stamm, a Swiss People's Party parliamentarian, told swissinfo that even if it makes it through parliament, Swiss voters should have the final decision on the matter. [continues 326 words]
Opponents of moves to decriminalise cannabis have scored a victory, with the House of Representatives throwing out the government's proposals. But the Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Addiction told swissinfo the vote exposed a serious lack of courage. On Thursday, the House of Representatives rejected legislation that would have allowed possession and production of cannabis for personal use, as well as limited trade in the drug. The bill, which had already been approved by the Senate, would have resulted in Switzerland having one of the most liberal policies on cannabis in Europe. It won the support of those who believed it was time to bring legislation in line with reality. [continues 563 words]
James started smoking cannabis when he was 12, insisting that it was "normal" among all his friends. Now 14, he's growing his own marijuana plants - his mother discovered them by the gladioli - and has promised to work for better school grades if he's allowed to keep them. "What can I do?" agonizes his mother, Liz. "If I let him grow it at least he will have his own supply. If he has to go and buy it, then he risks meeting older people selling Ecstasy and other nasty pills. And if I don't let him have any money, he will find ways of getting some," she frets, asking that the family name not be used. [continues 439 words]
Alcohol And Tobacco Pose Far Greater Danger, Way Advocates Of Cannabis Legalisation The Swiss government, which already has one of the most liberal drug policies in the world, wants to decriminalise consumption of cannabis and put state provision of heroin to addicts on a permanent legal footing. The ruling four-party coalition hopes the proposed revision of its drug law will close loopholes and establish a constitutional basis for Switzerland's four-pillar policy of repression, prevention, treatment, and harm reduction--including heroin prescription--which is widely credited with bringing down the mortality rate, crime, and deprivation associated with severe addiction. [continues 561 words]
ZURICH (Reuters) - Angry parents protested outside the Swiss parliament on Monday over government plans to decriminalize cannabis - - a step they say would make Switzerland a Mecca for dope smokers. The demonstration organized by the Swiss Association of Parents against Drugs was timed to pre-empt a debate in the lower house on Thursday on relaxing the laws on cannabis use. Parliament's upper house has already approved the proposals. Despite Switzerland's staid reputation, it is not unusual to see people smoking joints in parks, clubs or on ski lifts. The government has proposed a Dutch-style decriminalization to bring laws in line with the widespread social acceptance of the drug. [continues 328 words]
ZURICH (Reuters) - LSD, the hallucinogenic drug that launched a million trips for hippies, was discovered 60 years ago when a Swiss chemist accidentally inhaled a substance that made his bike ride home something special. Albert Hofmann was actually trying to develop stimulants for the circulatory system in his Sandoz AG lab on April 16, 1943 when he mixed up a batch of LSD from ergot, a fungus that grows on rye. Instead, he created one of the most powerful agents ever to change perceptions of reality, an icon of the 1960s Flower Power movement and the drug of choice for a generation of musicians and writers who rode the psychedelic wave. [continues 268 words]
Lawmakers have voted to extend Switzerland's pioneering programme to provide heroin to severely addicted people. The National Council voted 110-42 to extend the programme until the end of 2009, rejecting an attempt by right-of-centre parties to end it. The Swiss Government maintains the heroin programme brings health gains and reduces crime and death associated with the drug scene. Some 1300 drug addicts, averaging about 33 years in age, benefit from the legal prescription of heroin under medical control. Switzerland's experiment with drug distribution began in 1994 with the first government-authorised distribution of heroin, morphine and methadone in the world. [end]
SWITZERLAND'S pioneering programme to provide heroin to severely addicted people has received a boost after lawmakers moved to extend it for five more years. The National Council, the lower house of parliament, rejected an attempt by right-of-centre parties to stop the programme and voted to prolong it until the end of 2009. The move comes in spite of criticism last month from the United Nations' International Narcotics Control Board, which denounced such programmes in its annual report. [end]
ZURICH - Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell stood in a narrow tiled room here and watched heroin addicts "cranking" their fixes. And Campbell said he's convinced he's on the right track when it comes to using safe injection sites to help clean up the Downtown Eastside's drug problems. "It confirmed everything I read with regards to reduction of deaths, of HIV, of crime and the whole gamut," Campbell told The Province last night. Campbell is in Switzerland to deliver Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympic bid book to the international Olympic Committee in Lausanne tomorrow. [continues 310 words]
Larry Campbell Believes It's An Option When Methadone And Abstinence Fail ZURICH -- Mayor Larry Campbell wants Vancouver to copy a controversial but successful Swiss program of prescribing heroin to hard-core addicts. In fact, if he had his way, they'd get cocaine prescriptions too. When social workers and drug addiction counsellors talk about the model for treating the hardest of hard-core addicts, for whom abstinence or methadone programs do not work, they all look to Switzerland for advice. That's because for the last eight years the country has operated a prescription heroin program with relative success. [continues 1180 words]
MOUTIER, Switzerland - Three U.S. gymnasts were given "severe warnings" after testing positive for marijuana, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said Wednesday. The three - who were not identified - tested positive following an unannounced, out-of-competition test in January, FIG said. "In the event of subsequent offenses, these gymnasts could be subject to a suspension of up to two years. Gymnasts, be warned," the federation said. FIG also announced that a second test of a blood sample given by rhythmic gymnast Irina Tchachina of Russia had proved positive for the substance furosemide. The tests were carried out during the world championships in Madrid, Spain, last October. [continues 104 words]
Switzerland, Which Once Had The Highest Rates Of Heroin Addiction And Hiv In Europe, Practises A Radical Policy Of Harm Reduction For Its Drug Addicts. Imogen Foulkes Reports From Zurich. The Platzspitz park in Zurich is an oasis of calm greenery in the heart of the city. But 10 years ago, it was better known as needle park. Hundreds of addicts came here to buy heroin, and inject it openly. It was a horrifying spectacle, and, 10 years ago this week, Swiss police drove the addicts out of needle park. [continues 603 words]
The Senate Has Approved A Government Proposal To Allow The Consumption Of Cannabis. Pending approval by the House of Representatives, the production and trade in hashish and marijuana could also become legal under certain conditions. The amended law, which was accepted by 25 votes and no opposition in the Senate, is aimed at catching up with present-day reality. More than 700,000 people between the age of 15 and 30 have smoked cannabis at least once in their lives. While the consumption of hashish and marijuana would be legalised, the cultivation and sale of cannabis would only be allowed under certain conditions. [continues 299 words]
CULLY, SWITZERLAND -- Freezing assets here is easy. All it takes is a banker's suspicion of a client's ill-gotten gain and a quick call to the federal money-laundering office, and it's done. Thawing out assets, though, can be an entirely different story. Consider the tale behind the Nixon-family portrait on the desk of Jean-Pierre Allaz in this small wine village on the shores of Lake Geneva. [continues 1718 words]
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) -- The site of an ATP tournament was closed for more than an hour Tuesday after guards discovered a letter feared to contain anthrax. The substance turned out to be cocaine, authorities said. The problem was cleared up in time to allow the opening round of the Swiss Indoors to begin on schedule at St. Jakobshalle. The tournament features some of the top players on the men's tour. Analysis at the Basel city lab showed no anthrax spores in the powder, said Rolf Klaus, state chief of chemical security. [continues 310 words]
GENEVA -- One in four people in the world will be affected by mental health or brain disorders during their lives, but few of them will seek or receive help, the World Health Organization said Thursday. Some 450 million people suffer from mental and neurological conditions such as depression, schizophrenia and dementia. But despite this, about 40 percent of countries have no mental health policy, it said. Two thirds of countries spent 1 percent or less of their health budget on mental health, and half had only one psychiatrist per 100,000 people. [continues 373 words]
COCAINE addicts may benefit from research in Switzerland which found that a mutant strain of mice was unaffected by the drug. The researchers have shown that the mutant mice, which lack a particular type of receptor in their brains, always fail a standard test of ability to become addicted to cocaine. Normal mice given a drug that interferes with the receptor's function showed a lower response to cocaine than usual. The findings, by a team at GlaxoSmithKline's laboratory in Lausanne, suggest that it may be possible to develop a drug that targets the receptor, known as mGluR5, and lessens or blocks the effect that a user gets from cocaine. That could be a potential therapy for cocaine addicts, researchers said. Details of the study are published today in the journal Nature Neuroscience. "These findings suggest that mGluR5 is critical to the behavioural effects and rewarding properties of cocaine, and suggest that this receptor system may be a promising target for addiction research," the scientists concluded. [end]
Europe's War On Cannabis Dope is now so popular in Switzerland that the authorities have decided to decriminalise its use, cultivation and possession. It is barely lunchtime but the air at the Munsterplattform park in the Swiss capital is already thick with the sweet and distinctive smell of marijuana. Around a hundred joints are smouldering in the summer sunshine, dangling from the lips of scores of teenagers lounging on manicured lawns. It may not look like it but this is the frontline of Europe's war of attrition on soft drugs, a war which governments across the continent, including Britain, know they are losing and a war which it is increasingly recognised cannot be fought using heavy-handed policing. [continues 952 words]
The Swiss Move To Legalize The Cultivation, Sale And Consumption Of Marijuana Switzerland may no longer be known just as the land of chocolate and cheese; marijuana could soon become as much a part of the Alpine landscape as edelweiss. Last week the Swiss government approved a law, still to be endorsed by the Parliament, that legalizes the production, sale and use of marijuana, making Switzerland's policy toward the drug one of the most liberal in Europe. Sale of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine will remain illegal. "No research shows that marijuana is more harmful or addictive than alcohol and tobacco," says Georg Amstutz, spokesman for the Federal Office of Public Health. [continues 430 words]
BERN, Switzerland - Once a month, Didier, a clean-cut 37-year-old government worker, stops by a little shop called Growland, just around the corner from the city's elegant concert hall. Like 10 other shops in Bern, Growland sells hemp products and is listed in telephone directories under cannabis. Didier, who declined to give his full name, said he was a regular smoker and had come to stock up. So did a steady stream of other customers. While the sale of cannabis for smoking at Growland and its competitors is illegal, that law is not strongly enforced in this part of Switzerland. Drug laws are applied more strictly in the French-speaking western part of the country, where Didier lives. And that is why he comes here, instead of buying at home in Neuchatel, an hour away. "It's not a problem," he said. "Everybody knows you can come to Bern and get it." [continues 644 words]
BERN: Once a month, Didier, a clean-cut 37-year-old government worker, stops by a little shop called Growland, just around the corner from the city's elegant concert hall. Like 10 other shops in Bern, Growland sells hemp products and is listed in telephone directories under cannabis. Didier, who declined to give his full name, said he was a regular smoker and had come to stock up. So did a steady stream of other customers that day. While the sale of cannabis for smoking at Growland and its competitors is illegal, that law is not strongly enforced in this part of Switzerland. Drug laws are applied more strictly in the French-speaking western part of the country, where Didier lives. [continues 832 words]
The Swiss Move To Legalize The Cultivation, Sale And Consumption Of Marijuana. Switzerland may no longer be known just as the land of chocolate and cheese; marijuana could soon become as much a part of the Alpine landscape as edelweiss. Last week the Swiss government approved a law, still to be endorsed by the Parliament, that legalizes the production, sale and use of marijuana, making Switzerland's policy toward the drug one of the most liberal in Europe. Sale of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine will remain illegal. [continues 456 words]
BERN Switzerland has taken a major step towards legalizing the consumption of cannabis with the government proposing a draft law in Parliament to decriminalize the drug. The proposal to overhaul Switzerland's drugs law, unveiled last Friday, could also allow the sale of cannabis under certain conditions. Ruth Dreifuss, the Swiss minister for social affairs, told journalists that outlawing cannabis completely had not brought the desired results. Addictive substances other than cannabis - such as heroin, cocaine and ecstasy - will remain illegal, but violators will not necessarily face prosecution. [end]
BERNE, SWITZERLAND The Swiss government has 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 the parliament Friday, seeks to bring Swiss law into line with the reality that one in four Swiss age 15 to 24 regularly gets high, 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. [continues 53 words]
BERNE, Switzerland -- The Swiss government endorsed a draft law today that would legalize consumption of marijuana and hashish and allow a limited number of "dope shops." The bill submitted to Parliament seeks to bring Swiss law into line with the reality that one in four people ages 15-24 regularly gets high 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. [continues 80 words]
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. [end]
The Swiss Government is recommending to parliament the legalisation of cannabis, as well as the sale and production of small amounts of soft drugs. The government argues that the move brings the law into line with reality. Surveys have shown that one in four young people smoke cannabis and it is widely available in big towns. Some shops even sell it openly, while cannabis farms are legal as long as they do not sell the crop to smoke. The cabinet agreed in principle in October last year to legalise cannabis smoking. [continues 208 words]
The Swiss government 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 into line with the reality that one in four people ages 15 to 24 regularly uses cannabis in the Alpine state, according to a poll commissioned last month by the government. The Cabinet has recommended that police be allowed to turn a blind eye to people growing and trading small amounts of soft drugs. [end]
The government has proposed legislation that would permit consumption of marijuana and hashish, acting on findings of a study that showed use of the substances is pervasive. Under the proposed law, the police could ignore cultivation and trading of small amounts of soft drugs and devote more resources to large-scale production and export. The legislation faces scrutiny by Parliament, where passage is far from certain. [end]
BERNE, March 9 (Reuters) - The Swiss government on Friday endorsed a draft law that would legalise the consumption of marijuana and hashish and allow a limited number of "dope shops." The bill submitted to parliament seeks to bring Swiss law into line with the reality that one in four people aged 15-24 regularly gets high in the Alpine state, according to a poll commissioned last month by the Swiss government. "Decriminalising 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. [continues 203 words]
Majority Of Swiss Want Cannabis Liberalization, Says Study BERN, Switzerland (AP) -- More than half the population of Switzerland backs a liberalization of laws banning cannabis, according to a survey by a drug and alcohol agency. The figures, released Thursday by the private Swiss Institute for Alcohol and Drug Problems following a study in November, say that 54 percent favor a softening of penalties for smoking, possessing and selling the drug. "Cannabis consumption is becoming normal," said institute director Richard Mueller. In the survey of 1,600 people aged 15-74, more than a quarter said they had smoked a joint at least once in their life, with the figure rising to 50 percent among teen-agers and young adults. [continues 189 words]
[Sidebar] "Cannabis consumption is becoming normal." -- Richard Mueller, Director Swiss Institute for Alcohol and Drug Problems Bern, Switzerland (Associated Press) -- More than half of the Swiss support loosening the laws banning marijuana, according to a survey by a drug and alcohol agency. The figures, released Thursday by the private Swiss Institute for Alcohol and Drug Problems following a study in November, say that 54 percent favor a softening of penalties for smoking, possessing and selling the drug. "Cannabis comsumption is becoming normal," institute director Richard Mueller said. [continues 198 words]
Dealing With Drugs The Swiss Way Drugs project officer at the United Nations Office for Project Services (Unops); formerly drugs policy coordinator for the city of Berne (1997-2000). In the early 1990s Berne, along with other Swiss cities, achieved international notoriety when drug addicts began appearing in municipal parks injecting themselves in full view of the passing public. The American media coined the term "needle parks" to describe this much talked about phenomenon. How had such a situation come about? The police and drugs welfare people had very different views of the addicts' presence in the cities but they agreed on one thing: having the addicts grouped together in the defined limits of a public park and left more or less to their own devices meant that they were not seen in other parts of town. [continues 1584 words]
Inside Switzerland
