Legalization in the endless loop?

In its current report, the Addiction Commission presented its fears and concerns for a new approach to cannabis in Switzerland. In Basel, the first pilot project finally started at the end of January: Almost 200 study participants have begun to legally obtain study cannabis.

First the commission was called EKDF, then EKSF, now it is called EKSN. This time, its report from the end of 2022 has summarized the findings from the areas where legalization has already taken place (and in many different ways). Some of these developments the commission sees as problematic. These should be prevented if legalization takes place in Switzerland. The report speaks of the fear that society could lose control: If you let a free market rule and rule, there are of course strange excesses (the THC gummy bears in packaging suitable for children are just one example). But it is also clear that too many regulations can hardly be controlled (who is supposed to pay for that?) and too high hurdles would deter consumers from buying legally, thus allowing the black market to live on.

For we must already realize (and this is somewhat lost on many addiction experts): Today's black market exists and functions, it delivers. Unfortunately, neither society nor the users have control over it. So an enormous loss of control has already taken place! Thanks to the repression, structures earn, which we would not like to have in a democracy: Gangs, mafia-like groups, violent people. The police and the judiciary have never been able to get a grip on this.

Therefore, a realistic approach is needed. The black market is the worst solution. Legalization also has its problems, but you can't control everything. At the moment, there is a tendency for us to continue to cautiously pilot projects for years, write admonishing reports, discuss academic legal textual subtleties, and simply not come to a conclusion out of fear. But that is what is needed: the realization of a feasible, majority-capable solution - in the service of consumers and society.

• On the report of the Commission
• Legalization: For a new way of dealing!