Our interest: THC

Many people use THC containing products medicinally or recreationally. But hash and weed are still illegal. Therefore, THC users face a variety of problems. We, the Legalize it! association, help people who use THC products with legal questions. For this purpose we offer personal consultations and written information.

We follow the political development surrounding hemp in Switzerland and publish our evaluations of it. Ultimately, we want to achieve the complete legalization of hemp - even if the path there remains long.

Our main topics can be reached via the six headings in the navigation at the top of the page (or in the hamburger menu on your cell phone). The quick navigation leads to the respective sub-topics of a main topic (here to the latest news from our association, the prosecution and politics). Below you will find all current information from the Legalize it! association.

News

18.03.2025 – Buds and Beats Festival on May 31: Buy tickets now

On May 31, 2025, the Buds and Beats Festival celebrates its premiere at Halle 622 in Zurich-Oerlikon. Visitors will discover the diversity of cannabis culture on over 3,000 m²: from CBD, smoking, medical and pilot project zones to the grow and hemp zone and culinary highlights in the food zone. The Game, Beach, Vape'n'Dab, Wellness and Talk zones offer entertainment and relaxation.

The line-up is now known! In the Music Zone, Juli Lee (techno), Jeyless (UK rap), Jordan Parat (CH rap), Juste Miles (French rap), LieVin (CH rap), MC Hero (CH rap), Nayla (German rap), Noa Faith (R'n'B) and Valdemar + Falco (psytrance/techno) will be getting things going. Cali P (CannaSwissCup) and Visu (Event Host & Joint Roll Contest) will accompany the program as hosts. DJ The $tone (Urban) and JR The G & Friends (All Styles) will provide the right sound between the live acts.

Get your tickets now! Experience the first Buds and Beats Festival live and immerse yourself in cannabis culture with thrilling music, exciting talks and much more. Get your ticket now at www.budsandbeats.ch and be there!

11.03.2025 – Magazine Legalize it No. 105 is published & No. 104 is online

Our members are currently receiving the latest issue 105 of our magazine Legalize it!
The spring issue contains – as has been the case for a long time – mainly the annual report and financial statements of the past year. We will make the complete magazine available as a PDF from June.
Become a member so that you are always up to date (e.g. also by e-mail) – you make our activities possible and support the association. Legalize it!

We have also published another issue of our magazine Legalize it! as PDF. The issue 104 is now available for download both as a whole and as individual articles in the areas of politics, justice, culture and the scene. The current issue (#105) is still reserved for our members.

04.03.2025 – The next dates

Another members' meeting on the topic of “politics” will take place on March 14. A politics group has now been formed and we have started to compile arguments and articles. If you would like to help, please get in touch.

Some basics can be found in the articles from Legalize it! 104 (Winter 2024/25), which we have now integrated into our website: Conclusion of our hemp info event, Legalizing cannabis: How can this succeed?, Promoting hemp culture: For a considered enjoyment!, Prosecution stop: Legal options, Pilot projects: Findings on legal sourcing

On April 25, we will meet for our association meeting. The invitation and documents will follow in the next Legalize it! 105, which we will pack on Friday. You are also welcome to register for this meeting.

25.02.2025 – Our corporate members

Do you need a new vaporizer? Or fresh CBD flowers? We ask you to consider our corporate members when making your purchases: You can find the list here. In addition to our private members and donors, corporate members are an important part of our Association.

18.02.2025 – The Legalize it! 105 is in print

Today we sent the PDF of Legalize it! issue 105 to the printers, we will pack it up at the beginning of March and it will arrive with our members on March 12/13. It contains the annual report and the annual financial statements for 2024, as well as the invitation to our Annual General Meeting on April 25, 2025.

17.02.2025 – A viable compromise

At the end of the week, the National Council's Social Security and Health Committee discussed the work of its sub-committee “Regulating Cannabis”. All the details are not yet clear, but the media release does give some indication of what will be in the preliminary draft.

Of course, we would like to see much more: a truly liberal approach. The bill contains a lot of restrictions and overly cautious provisions. This is not liberal cannabis legislation.

But we understand the fears of the population. We see that after decades of prohibition, after all the fears, small steps are needed to win majorities. That is why we support this compromise and will also campaign for it.

We also have to make many compromises in the pilot projects that we don't like. Be it in the dispensaries or as study participants. We are adhering to the restrictive regulations. This is feasible, even if we don't think it's great.

In any case, restrictive decriminalization is also better than this black market, which functions without tests, without product safety and channels money into dubious pockets. We definitely don't want that anymore.

11.02.2025 – Half-time Hanfstübli

We have been running our Hanfstübli, a cannabis social club, for 1.5 years as part of the “Züri Can” pilot project. As part of this project, we are allowed to legally sell around a dozen tested varieties weed and hash to interested parties from the city of Zurich. Over 120 study participants are now entitled to purchase from us.

We have now reached the halfway point of the project, which is currently scheduled to run until October 2026. Of course, we hope that there will be an extension, but this will require coordination and agreement between many political and administrative bodies.

In any case, we have already experienced a lot and have been able to investigate many questions. For example, some varieties seem to be much better suited to commercial cultivation outdoors (or in a greenhouse indoors). Then the flowers differ in their appearance in terms of moisture or trimming accuracy. It took many trials and improvements before the consistency of hash was right, because the legal limit of 20 % THC poses a particular challenge for hash.

So we saw what works well, what doesn't work so well, what the participants say about the products and how they develop over the years. This is really concrete, not just theory! We were also able to exchange many experiences on alternatives to smoking (vaporize, food). Because even if legalization were to come: Harm reduction will be an important pillar of it.

04.02.2025 – The next political cycle

Next week, the Commission on Social Security and Health is discussing the work of its sub-commission. We are curious to see what it has to say. Will it accept the deal? Does it want to discuss it further itself? Can a realistic timetable be drawn up for the consultation process and the deliberations in Parliament? Perhaps a media release will follow on Friday, then we will know more.

We will also be meeting at the end of the week to sound out which activities are sensible and feasible for us. Anyone interested in the background and problems of a new approach to hemp is welcome to read our pages on the subject.

28.01.2025 – Make a note: Buds and Beats Festival on May 31

Make a note now: In four months the Buds and Beats Festival will take place! On May 31, this event will celebrate its premiere in Hall 622 in Zurich-Oerlikon – where the legendary hemp fair «CannaTrade» took place in recent years.

This unique cannabis festival invites visitors to discover and enjoy the many facets of the hemp plant. On an area of over 3,000 m², guests can expect a varied experience with different «zones»:
The CBD-Zone presents the variety of CBD flowers, hash and cosmetics, while the Smoking-Zone provides the right accessories for enjoyment. In the Music-Zone, live acts and DJs from hip-hop and electronica will provide the right beats. In the Medical-Zone, visitors can learn all about medical applications, while the Pilot Project-Zone provides information on legal sources of supply as part of pilot projects.
The Grow-Zone provides interesting facts about cultivation and in the Hemp-Zone, visitors can explore the many uses of hemp in food, clothing and sustainable products.
There will also be a spacious open-air cill-out area with a wide range of culinary delights. Plus the zones of Game, Beach, Vape'n'Dab, Wellness and Talk – everything a hemp heart could desire!

Get your tickets early – it's worth it!

21.01.2025 – A new year, a new policy?

Cannabis is still illegal, even if law enforcement agencies are no longer working on it with the same vigor as they did a few years ago. Nevertheless, the Narcotics Act is a very tough law. We have posted some documents on the prosecution from the year 2024.
The Social Security and Health Commission will discuss a new approach to cannabis on February 13. Its sub-commission has been working with the administration for three years to draft a law on cannabis products.
Our first members' meeting in 2025 will take place on February 14. The topic will be the political developments: What is in the pipeline? What do we think is good, what is bad? How can we support the process?
Our association meeting will take place on April 25. Members are welcome to register. We will publish the annual report and the annual financial statements in the next Legalize it! 105, which is now being laid out and will be sent out at the beginning of March.

03.12.2024 – Member meetings

We have fixed the dates for the first half of 2025. The next member meetings will take place on the following dates:

February 14

March 14

April 25 (Association Meeting 2025)

May 9

June 13

Our meetings are intended for active members and a registration is requested.

We have not yet set the topics of the meetings on the dates, but next year we will deal with the following: scanning our archive, status of the legalization discussions, overview of current vaporizer devices, status of the cannabis pilot projects.

25.11.2024 – Would you like to help?

For next year, we are looking for members who would like to get actively involved. The following options are available:

We are planning to digitize our archive. This requires employees on site (scanning the articles and other information) as well as employees who label the articles (date, medium), which can also be done online.
Our wiki needs constant maintenance: be it checking/correcting the translations or checking the links (i.e. whether they still refer to the intended pages).
A consultation on the proposals of the “Cannabis Regulation” sub-commission is likely to take place next year. Other members are welcome to help with this.
If you would like to add another topic, you are welcome to send us your suggestions.

Interested? Then please get in touch!

19.11.2024 – Autumn thoughts

Tomorrow, the first snow is expected to fall in the lowlands. Winter is approaching, the summer months are definitely over. I hope some of you were able to harvest your own crops. I know that some have had a house search because of their balcony plants, then a police interview and will receive a fine. It's still a long way from being legal.

Yet legal home cultivation would be an important element in making consumers less dependent on the black market with all its negative phenomena. A few thousand study participants can purchase clean weed and clean hash in the cannabis pilot projects: tested, without heavy metals, without additives, without faecal bacteria and without mold. That's great, but that's just it: There are also tens of thousands of people who do not have the opportunity to take part in a trial.

The sub-commission «Cannabis regulation» should be finalizing its work on a new approach to cannabis these days. I very much hope that it has paid the necessary attention to home cultivation in the three years in which it has been discussing this. And also argues for a rapid introduction of this option.

Because it will be a long time before a comprehensive hemp law has been drawn up and discussed by all authorities. And whether there will be all the necessary majorities? I am in favour of implementing a manageable and rapid partial decriminalization and then gradually progressing towards a comprehensive solution.

You can find the archive of all contributions in the section Association.