Switzerland mulls legalising recreational cannabis

GENEVA: Switzerland will consider legalising recreational cannabis use, after a parliamentary commission on Friday proposed a law that would allow regulated sale and access.

The draft proposal adopted by the lower house of parliament´s health commission, with 14 votes in favour, nine against and two abstentions, called for adults to be “accorded a strictly regulated access to cannabis”.

Cannabis can currently only be purchased legally in the wealthy Alpine nation for medical use, or for non-medical use when it contains below one percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the component that gets recreational users high.

Trials have been conducted in several regions and cities in recent years testing the regulated sale of cannabis for non-medical purposes. But the vast majority of consumers obtain their supplies of the drug through illegal channels, the commission pointed out.

Highlighting a 2022 Swiss survey that found that four percent of people between the ages of 15 and 64 had illegally consumed cannabis in the previous month, it stressed that “cannabis is a societal reality”.

“The majority of the commission believes the current situation is unsatisfactory and that the prohibitive approach is a mistake,” it added. It called for legalising the sale and use of cannabis for non-medical use, emphasising though that this needed to be strictly regulated as a narcotic substance, with the recognition that consumption can be harmful to health.