Editorial on narcotics in Geneva –
Not a funny gas at all
Between the canisters thrown into the lake and the police reports, Geneva is not spared from “laughing gas parties”. But how to act?
Editorial Published today at 7:21 a.m.
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It is not classified in the category of narcotics, only takes effect for a few minutes, and leaves no traces. And the bonus is that it has a funny name which almost encourages people to take it lightly: laughing gas, consumed by teenagers and young adults, can nevertheless ruin lives: serious burns, neurological after-effects, death by asphyxiation…
Obviously, the phenomenon does not spare Geneva given the quantity of canisters found last week at the bottom of the lake. And according to police information, it seems that public establishments do not care about the ban on diverting this product for recreational purposes.
Should we act more at the cantonal level? This is what a motion proposes, supported, a rare occurrence, unanimously. The subject, in the cantons but also under the Dome, regularly raises questions.
But it is complex. Switzerland notes that it is only marginally affected by this consumption, which is also called “the poor man's drug”. Doing specific prevention on this poorly established substance could have counterproductive effects. But the Federal Council also recognizes that there is a lack of monitoring to properly understand a phenomenon that is invisible by nature.
What remains is the repression of all those who make profits by knowingly selling this product for recreational purposes. It is difficult to sanction manufacturers active in this so-called festive market abroad. Locally, it's a different story: in nightclubs in particular, the suppliers of this disastrous product still manage to avoid being worried. A gap to fill.
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Cathy Macherel has been a journalist at the Tribune de Genève since 2010. She collaborates on several sections, local, Weekend and manages certain supplements. She deals in particular with regional planning and displays a predilection for surveys and magazine approaches. More info
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