For two years now, the Federal Statistical Office FSO has been releasing figures on cannabis repression.

The new distinction between contraventions and misdemeanor makes more sense - the former are punished with a fine and fees (total of a few hundred francs), while the latter are additionally punished with monetary penalty/day sentences or imprisonment, as well as an entry in the criminal record.

There are now very many categories (cannabis, hemp (young plant), hemp (plant dried), hemp (plant fresh), hashish, marijuana, hashish oil and hemp seeds). But most of them are practically “empty”: that is, the two categories hashish and marijuana contain the lion's share. Therefore, we decided to append the other categories to these two. So weed means for us: cannabis, hemp (young plant), hemp (plant dried), hemp (plant fresh), marijuana and hemp seeds. Hash for us includes: hashish and hashish oil. (For details see Legalize it! 52.)

However, there is also a category “Multiple substances”. Here are probably also various pure hemp cases recorded (e.g. someone who was caught with hemp seeds and marijuana). Despite repeated inquiries, the FSO did not feel able to break down this - quite well filled - category for us. Therefore, it may well be that each bar in the transgressions would be a few thousand cases higher than we present it.

The fixed penalties, which play a role especially in St. Gallen and Neuchâtel, should also not be included in these figures and probably account for another few hundred cases per year.

When we compare the two new vintages, we find increases of 7% to 8% in transgressions and about 5% in misdemeanor (see here]]).

The extent of repression is also considerable in absolute terms: it affected more than 35,000 people in 2010 for transgressions and more than 7,000 people for misdemeanor (see here]]). In one year. That is enormous.

Offences for cannabis violations in Switzerland, 2009 and 2010

In the last three and a half decades, a total of 655,994 people have been reported for THC use. This has cost the smokers over a hundred million francs in fines and writing fees. Another blatant fact is that the number of convictions is increasing almost from year to year instead of decreasing. Since the year 2000, over 30,000 convictions for the use of cannabis products have been counted every year. 2008 is the first year in which the number is just below that.

For 35 years now, potheads have been reported to the police - and there is no end in sight. Just in the years when there was a lot of talk about a change in dealing with us stoners, the number of reprimands increased markedly. Special police forces search the areas close to the center (city, train station, parks) every day and confiscate every joint and report all stoners they catch.

The discussions about legalization were all well and good. But how about finally taking some concrete action? No more prosecution of the stoners, that should be the slogan: No more arrests, just because someone is found with a joint and a piece! That would be the most logical thing in the world. But not for an apparatus that has been working for decades. It continues. Even if it is pointless.

The shift from hashish to weed use convictions in recent years is striking. From the mid-1970s to 1994, hash use referrals accounted for almost all of the referrals. Weed use, on the other hand, was rarely reported, although there was an weed upswing around 1980. From 1995 onwards, the number of prosecutions for weed use increased massively, while the number of prosecutions for hash use dropped dramatically. In 1998, for the first time, more pot users were reported for weed than for hashish use. This change in the number of consumption reports reflects, of course, the change in real consumption behavior. With the emergence of hemp stores and the large-scale cultivation of hemp, the supply of pot smokers with weed became possible in the first place. Especially the young and trendy smokers changed very quickly from the mostly imported hashish to the local weed, first outdoor, then indoor.

Statistics consumption convictions 1974 to 2006