The rocky road to legalization

Autumn 2015: Medical cannabis is becoming more and more acceptable, whole countries have started legalizing it. But here in Germany, there is currently no progress at all. On the contrary: Customs takes a childish delight in fishing out hemp seeds.

It is only a question of time. How many years or decades it will take is impossible to estimate. Who would have seen Colorado as a legalization pioneer just a few years ago? At the turn of the millennium, many thought Switzerland was the great international pioneer. But then, within a few years, all hemp stores were closed. No, no one knows when the majority of the population will see sense: Hemp repression does not achieve the goal of abstinence, but generates a huge amount of costs.

One could also ask the question: Why isn't it legal yet? Of course, there are as many answers as there are people. We've all heard a few of them, “They don't want to do it up there for … Reasons.” “The pharmaceutical lobby …” “The powerful, the rich, the politicians, Martians, etc. …” We can only speculate because we are unlikely to find out the real reason in the near future.

The only thing that is clear is that there is currently no majority in favor of legalizing hemp in Switzerland. In 2008, there was a vote in which legalization or regulation failed with the voters.

Cannabis - you can look at it as a drug, as a remedy, as a relaxant; it depends on how you look at it. Recently, hemp has been back in the media more often. It has also been proven time and time again that it is a cure or palliative for all sorts of illnesses and ailments. Nowadays, this can no longer be denied.

And yet you hear over and over again, “It's a gateway drug”, “Hemp is addictive, sick, stupid, etc”. Ridiculous propaganda, we don't want to deal with it anymore. But many people still believe in these empty words, which gives legitimacy to a big repressive apparatus for the prosecution of hemp.

All regular smokers or hemp supporters could ask themselves one question: “What can I do to make it legal again?”. All the hemp lovers, all the pain patients: You are a group that is directly affected by prohibition. For most of you, there is a lot of interest in seeing something change. The next question then becomes, “What can I do, how can I make something change for the better?” With today's repressive situation of the authorities, one can understand the powerlessness: “They are too powerful, I can't do anything!” So you don't want to attract attention, you want to stay hidden where possible, which is perfectly understandable.

But then no one should expect anything to change in the near future. Changes do not happen by themselves, they are caused by people, with pressure on the policy, signature collections, demos and other acts. At least there is some movement in politics. There is talk about pilot tests for cannabis distribution (with registration of the users?, maximum 15% THC?, without self-cultivation?), there is debate about the possible possibility of cannabis social clubs (without the possibility of consumption?) and so on. But without real action, unfortunately, it remains just talk. Many affected people have rightly lost confidence in politics and the parties.

Another way to look at the consumption of cannabis is in terms of personal freedom: I may consume what I want. To that end, everyone has their own personal choice of what they want to ingest or not. This freedom was present with regard to cannabis in Switzerland until 1952. From then on, the tide turned. A freedom, a right was taken from us, or rather stolen. Today, in 2015, 63 years later, there is still a fight to regain the stolen freedom for the use of the hemp plant.

Now privacy is in danger of being lost altogether - the last remnants where the state has not yet intervened because it could not: Electronic surveillance is conquering more and more areas of life. The right to privacy, and thus the possibility of living lifestyles that may be alien to the majority, is being given up step by step. The new surveillance laws show where the journey could lead. And it will be difficult to win back such freedoms.

But how good are these security apparatuses, police forces, public prosecutors' offices and courts? They can beat people up for importing ten hemp seeds. They are hardly interested in burglaries, but they take tens of thousands of people seriously when it comes to prosecuting and punishing them for smoking pot. These apparatuses don't need more rights and money, they need reform: they should question priorities and take personal freedoms seriously.