The prosecution stagnates at a very high level

2006: Once again, a year of repression has been captured in official figures. The number of arrests fell slightly, but remained stable at a high level in a long-term comparison. The number of seizures, however, has declined significantly.

Slowly, everyone has realized it: Dealing with THC products is punished in Switzerland. Only a few Germans who want to move to Switzerland still have the stoner paradise Switzerland in mind and ask about the best hemp stores. But slowly it is getting across Europe that Switzerland has found its way back to the old repressive way of dealing with cannabis.

As long as it involves consumption or purchase, cultivation or possession for personal use, the illegal act is a contravention. This is comparable to a parking fine. However, in most areas a report is made, so in addition to the actual fine of around 50 to 200 francs, there are the award, writing, and delivery fees of the office that issues the fine. This brings the total amount to between 100 and 500 francs (the first time).

Parking fines, however, can be issued by the police themselves directly on the spot, it does not need report, so this process is cheaper. Moreover, these police fines are not stored. This means that you can park x times wrongly and still the fine remains the same. For THC consumption, on the other hand, the fines can get higher and higher for each additional report (in the city of Zurich, for example, the amount of the fine gets 100 francs higher for each new catch, and the fees increases as well). A big exception is St. Gallen - there the police can take 50 francs from THC users directly on the spot and that's the end of the case (except for minors). By the way, this applies to all minor narcotics violations, i.e. not only to THC products, but also to ecstasy or cocaine. For hash and weed, the maximum amount that can be caught and fined with 50 francs is five grams. Above that, as in other areas of Switzerland, a report. Penalties for violations are not entered in the criminal register, but only stored in the local police databases (and can also only be accessed by the respective police authority). However, efforts and attempts are underway to link all these databases, so that a police officer in Aargau will also be able to see whether someone in Graubünden has already received a fine for THC consumption. But this system is only in development.

However, anyone who gives away, brokers or even sells hash or weed is now no longer committing a contravention, but a misdemeanor. And this is already the case if you give someone a gram of hash for their birthday: This is passing on, and this is not only punished with a fine, but mostly also with a (often conditional) monetary penalty in the amount of a few daily sentences. Conditional means that you do not have to pay this monetary penalty if you do not commit any further misdemeanor during the conditional period (usually two or three years). The amount of the daily sentence depends on the economic circumstances of the THC user (income, assets, personal circumstances) and amounts to a maximum of 3,000 francs per daily sentence. These (mostly conditional) monetary penalties have replaced the short (and also mostly conditional) prison and jail sentences since January 1, 2007.

Someone hands over a few grams of hash to another person, the police sees this and intervenes. The penalty for the giver is then, for example: 500 francs fine, writing and sentencing fees of 250 francs, plus three daily sentences of 100 francs, conditional on two years. The 500 francs and the 250 francs have to be paid, but the daily rates do not have to be paid. However, you must not do anything else wrong in the next two years, otherwise the conditional monetary penalty will be revoked and changed into an unconditional one (and then you would have to pay the 300 francs as well in this case). In any case, this penalty will be entered in the criminal record. So you have a criminal record and the bad deed appears in the criminal record.

As before, we are interested in all THC-related records: Cessation orders, warnings, fines, sentences, monetary penalties, jail sentences, driver's license revocations, measures, summonses, disbarments, closure orders, minutes, media reports. We gladly accept such documents and file them in our legal aid folders. You can send us your documents by mail or e-mail - or you can bring them to our office (we can scan the original documents here). In the bar below you will find the options for contacting us. The more information we receive, the more complete our overview of the repression against THC in Switzerland will be. By the way: Our members still receive free legal information about THC&Law.

(incl. change from previous year in percent)

The raw data for all figures used here come from: Federal Department of Justice and Police FDJP, Federal Office of Police fedpol, Swiss Narcotics Statistics 1974 to 2006. Calculations by us.