The public health commission of the Council of States supports a project aiming at completely revising the regulation of the production, trade and consumption of cannabis in Switzerland. This opens the door to legalization, but the process may take some time, reports RTS.*

The committee supported by nine votes to two a parliamentary initiative of National Councillor Heinz Siegenthaler (Le Centre/BE), said Tuesday the parliamentary services.*

The text, co-signed by 40 deputies of all parties, requires that the regulation be amended in accordance with the recommendations of the Federal Commission for issues related to addiction, and that it takes into account the policy known as “four pillars”.*

The National Health Commission will now be able to draft legislation to create a regulated cannabis market. In April the committee approved Heinz Siegenthaler’s initiative by 13 votes to 11 with one abstention.*

Recreational use also taken into account*

The control of production and trade should be ensured by the authorities, in particular to protect young consumers. The medical and non-medical markets should be separated.*

The objective is to dry up the black market by abolishing prohibition, says the text. The project calls for the introduction of a tax and the regulation of advertising, as well as measures to control production for personal use.*

For the commission, it is “essential” that the future law takes into account the results of ongoing pilot projects on the non-medical use of cannabis. It attaches great importance to the fact that the protection of minors and prevention are improved.*

A long process*

The development of the new legislation will take a long time, the National Health Committee announced in April. It could take years before it is liberalized. Once the project has been elaborated, a broad consultation should be launched, and the Federal Council could take a position before Parliament takes up the subject, and then the people in the event of a referendum.*

Cannabis has been banned in Switzerland since 1951. In principle, it can neither be cultivated, nor produced, nor sold. Consumption is punished since 1975.*

Despite this, about 300’000 people regularly use cannabis as a psychoactive substance in Switzerland. The Federal Council acknowledged in a position paper this summer that the current prohibition, which aims to protect the population, is not effective.*

Consumption is not decreasing and the black market is growing. In this context, there is no quality control or consumer protection.*

No scientific basis*

Finally, for the supporters of a revision of the law, the distinction between cannabis and “legal drugs” is not based on recent science, “especially since the harmfulness of tobacco and alcohol is no less”.*

Heinz Siegenthaler believes that the arguments used by the proponents of prohibition hold less and less on the moral and legal level. In his view, only a regulated market would meet the requirements of Switzerland’s drug policy.*

* original article

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*** ndlr. : –.