Twenty-five years of standing still. Among the federal policy filing cabinets, few have gathered as much dust as that of drug management. Since Ruth Dreifuss implemented the successful four-pillar policy in the 1990s, then convinced her colleagues in the Federal Council in 2001 of the need to legalize cannabis – before being rejected by parliament –, little or nothing has happened. ‘moved. The Geneva pioneer has certainly taken her fight to the international level, but Switzerland has stalled.
Who has heard the latest Ministers of Health take the slightest interest in prevention work or in the problem of crack cocaine, for example? Federal leadership on drugs no longer exists.
Municipalities to maneuver
Meanwhile, the situation on the ground is changing: easy and massive sale of substances on the web, drastic drop in prices, appearance of new products with disastrous effects, growing security problems, exasperation of the population. A complex equation whose health and safety resolution is left to the care of the cantons, and especially the municipalities. They respond in very diverse ways, depending on their political and budgetary realities, and nothing can force them to provide a complete response.
But if the big cities do what they can, it is time for Bern to take its responsibilities again. Because the current situation only benefits criminal gangs who are prospering like never before and laundering their money in hundreds of shops that have established locations throughout Switzerland. The regulation of hard drugs is not on the political agenda, but the fight against trafficking must be intensified and the liberalization of cannabis deserves a boost.
Decriminalize cannabis
To fight against organized crime which thrives on drug trafficking, the entire federal system is called upon. But both the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the federal police are now primarily engaged in the fight against terrorism. It is up to politics to make choices among the commitment priorities of these entities. Because in the current context of savings, there will not be a penny more. We may regret it but, when the Federal Council and Parliament think about security today, they prefer to spoil the army rather than the police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The other issue on which federal intelligence must move forward is that of the legalization of cannabis. More than sixteen years after the Swiss refused at the polls, parliament will soon reopen the discussion. Pilot tests carried out in recent months should result in a more satisfactory solution than the current one, which is expensive and leaves nearly half a million people in Switzerland flirting with illegality.
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