03.12.2025 – 30 years of Sven as secretary – Thanks to all!

I started as secretary of our association in January 1996. I was 26 years young. It was the time of the scented bags (hemp herb not for narcotics production) and the hemp shops. It was also the beginning of the last big political cycle that wanted to make hemp legally available in Switzerland. After a wild period with hundreds of hemp shops, this approach failed in 2004 because the National Council simply did not want to debate it. Then came the dark years, as I call them: repression, repression, repression.

I have experienced a lot in these 30 years: What prosecution can do, what is (not) legally possible. Also the introduction of the fixed penalties for observed consumption, the fight for exemption from punishment for small quantities, the hemp seed prosecutions from 2015, the gradual easing of restrictions for medicinal hemp and the start of the pilot projects, where we run a dispensary and I received a license to sell legally. The next big political cycle is now underway and I'm very excited to see where it leads!

I have been able to help many people: With our Shit happens on the legal situation and our legal information on hanflegal.ch. In addition, there were countless personal consultations on how to deal with repression, where I was able to explain the legal situation to many people and help them to make better statements or develop a different, less conspicuous way of dealing with hemp. It was also very satisfying that we managed to clarify the non-confiscability of a small quantity before the Federal Court.

There have also been many very difficult moments in these 30 years. Financially in particular, it was always extremely tight. But we have avoided these pitfalls every time, albeit by the skin of our teeth. I would like to thank all our members for this: for their membership fees and donations. I would especially like to thank the members who dug deep into their own pockets and helped out with large donations at times of crisis. None of this would have been possible without you!

I am now 56 years old. Will we manage to legalize it by the time I retire? It's not certain that the CanPG will pass. But maybe at least part of it will come into force? It will remain interesting in any case. It would be nice if we could finally consign this wretched prohibition regime to the dustbin of history. It's about time!