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You are here: Home News Swiss News Swiss voters say no to legal cannabis

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01/12/2008Swiss voters say no to legal cannabis

Decriminalising the drug is not what Swiss voters want, as seen in a nationwide referendum held on Sunday.

1 December 2008

GENEVA – Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a proposal to decriminalise cannabis by a clear majority in a nationwide referendum, Swiss news agency ATS reported.

Switzerland is the heaviest user of cannabis in Europe according to a recent study but the proposal to decriminalise the drug failed to win popular support in the majority of cantons, ATS said.

While national figures were not yet available, ATS reported that the strongest opposition to the proposal was in the canton of Neuchatel where 71.5 of voters said "no," while in Fribourg it was 69.7 percent and Geneva 62.1 percent.

In anticipation of a "no" vote, the Pro Juventute youth group along with the Federation of Swiss Youth Clubs and teachers unions called for a fresh approach to young cannabis users, the NZZ am Sonntag weekly newspaper reported.

"We should remember that the current regime in force has hardly dissuaded young people from using cannabis; the popularity of this drug rose constantly during the 1990s and has only recently seen a slight dip," Pro Juventute said in a statement.

Instead of criminal proceedings, people under 18 caught using cannabis would face fines and also drug prevention treatment and counselling, the paper said.

According to a study carried out in July by the Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction (ISPA), Swiss teenagers are increasingly using hard drugs such as amphetamines, speed, cocaine, magic mushrooms and LSD.

[AFP / Expatica]


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