Switzerland Pushes Cannabis Legalization And Taxation

Switzerland is taking another chance to legalize cannabis this year. This will be the country's second try in the last 10 years to push for the drug to be legalized and taxed. The new proposal states that both cannabis production and consumption should be legalized and and its sales regulated by the Swiss government. Currently, a petition is being passed around by the pro-cannabis group Legalize It, which still needs about 100,000 signatures.

Cannabis is still very much illegal in Switzerland. But a law passed in 2013 says that adults that will be caught with 10 grams or less will only be fined and will not be undergoing criminal proceedings. Figures were quoted by the statistics office in Tages Anzeiger, showing that as much as 19,000 were fined in 2016 and around 4,286 were given out in Zurich. At least 500,000 people are estimated to smoke weed occasionally in Switzerland, according to statistics.

Back in 2008, a previous referendum with a similar initiative was proposed but was unsuccessful. The proposal recommended for cannabis to be made legal, but not taxed by the government. It is also worth noting that this new plan specifies that cannabis will remain illegal for those underage, whereas the previous one did not. 

"The ban on cannabis is wrong from a social perspective, wrong from a legal point of view and simply stupid from an economic point of view," Legalize It group member Nine Forrer told Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger in an interview. It was also stated by the pro-cannabis group that this proposal might be the solution to the government's plight with the drug black market. They argued that the legalization of the cultivation of the plant will produce money for the country, instead of criminal organizations.  Aside from this, four Swiss cities are also currently awaiting government approval to trial state-certified production of cannabis.