Switzerland prepares to legalize adult use and self-cultivation of cannabis

Switzerland will draft a bill for the legalization of adult cannabis use, following a decision taken by the Parliamentary Committee on Social Security and Health of the Council of States (SGK-S). Legalization in Switzerland has support from across the political spectrum, with 40 members of the National Council signing the initiative, and should provide for self-cultivation as a means of access.

The decision was taken on Tuesday afternoon, with 9 of the 11 representatives of the commission voting in favor. The commission decided that cannabis should be regulated in Switzerland in order to control the “cannabis market for better consumer and youth protection”, said Heinz Siegenthaler, a member of the central parliament in Bern.

Although Switzerland's laws for the production and use of cannabis are relatively strict, there is already a clear move towards legalization. The production, cultivation, trade and consumption of cannabis will no longer be prohibited in Switzerland. According to one of the plans, the cannabis to be sold must be produced exclusively by Swiss farmers.

A news, advanced by Blick, appears in a cascade, compared to several other countries, which put legalization on the table, when an assessment carried out by the Commission on Social Security and Health of the Council of States (SGK-S), highlighted that the laws should be changed.

The aim of the SGK-S commission is to eliminate the black drug market in Switzerland. A draft law approving cannabis for all purposes will now be drafted by the Swiss parliament. Other rules issued by the commission, for example, were the possibility for individuals to grow and produce cannabis for personal use, as well as tax issues, which will be established as goals of the legal effort to regulate cannabis.