Swiss Consider Legalizing Marijuana September 26, 2003
News Summary
Switzerland, which has one of the most liberal drug policies in the world, is considering decriminalizing marijuana use, the Lancet reported Sept. 19.According to government statistics, about 500,000 people out of Switzerland's population of seven million occasionally or regularly use marijuana.
Advocates argue that alcohol and tobacco use pose a greater danger than marijuana. "For the sake of our own credibility we cannot allow that alcohol and tobacco, which kill 10,000 people a year in Switzerland, are sold with all kinds of marketing wizardry, while consumption of cannabis, a less dangerous product, is a legal offence," said the Swiss Institute for Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, an independent research and counseling organization, in a press statement.
The government is also considering a provision that would permanently legalize its injectable-heroin prescription program.
The nation's ruling four-party coalition said the changes would close loopholes in current laws and create a constitutional foundation for Switzerland's four-prong policy of drug repression, prevention, treatment, and harm reduction.
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