FEDERAL REFERENDUM: The Swiss production of cannabis for smoking passed
from 10 hectares in 1994 to 250 today: An explosion that is forcing
politics to consider the problem.

THE AFTERMATH OF DROLEG WILL BE DOMINATED BY THE DEBATE ON THE LEGAL STATUS
OF CANNABIS.

Sunday, after a very low-key campaign, the Swiss people will say if they
wish to reverse a century-long policy and begin a controlled distribution
of all narcotics. There is little doubt about the result of the vote, and
the only question of interest will be the magnitude of the defeat: will it
be more or less than the "Youth Without Drugs" initiative, defeated in
Spetember 1997 by a 71% majority? In a larger sense, the test poses a
question that is becoming a critical political issue: the status of
cannabis in Swiss law.

Legal Uncertainty

The defenders of hemp always supported Droleg. But at the time Droleg was
launched, there were many more urgent problems, such as the open-air scenes
of addiction and their dramatic health and humanitarian consequences for
addicts [referring to the Zurich Spitzplatz open-air drug scene]. Today,
the diversification of care and treatment methods, prescription of heroin
and the dissolution of open-air markets such as the Spitzplatz have cooled
this debate. But the debate on cannabis has emerged in full force. As a
result of the uncertain legal situation and the tolerance shown by several
Cantonal authorities, the production of cannabis has grown by leaps and
bounds.

Today, as opposed to plantations of low-THC hemp which amount to 60
hectares, there are 250 hectares devoted to cannabis destined for use as a
drug. In 1994, the latter represented only 10 hectares. Similarly, the
number of shops selling cannabis grew from six to 135. Increasingly, Swiss
cannabis growers are exporting their product. In Saint-Gall, the
authorities recently put an end to the activities of a cannabis-producing
enterprise that employed no less than twenty people. Directed by a German,
this company was essentially concerned with export, noted the judge Thomas
Hansjakob, who directed the investigation. Also significant was the fact
that no one contested his allegations, in requesting local authorization,
that he worked for a professor of pharmacology in Bern who is currently
conducting research on the medicinal properties of the THC (see below).

The "grey" market in cannabis seems to have largely replaced the black
market. There is no evidence to indicate that this has increased the number
of cannabis users. In any case, the development has not resulted in a major
deterioration of public order, and the population seems, on the whole, to
have accommodated the change without perception of scandal. But even if the
"grey" market is an improvement over the black market for the consumer, it
is still not a regulated market. "It is notoriously far more accessible for
adolescents than a true regulated market would be," says Thomas Hansjakob,
who was a supporter of DROLEG. But the size of the [recently prosecuted
cannabis] enterprise has led to a hardening of posistion by the courts and
the police in several cantons, especially Saint Gall.

The Commission of Experts

Until now, the specialists duly consulted each time the Swiss political
situation concerning drugs was under consideration refused to distinguish
between the status of cannabis and those of other illegal drugs, preferring
to recommend -- for nearly ten years now -- a general decriminalisation of
drug use. Today, however, this option is again being questioned, firstly
because it seems politically unrealistic. And secondly because the
continuing -- and exploited -- uncertainty concerning cannabis seems more
and more unsupportable. Parliamentry initiatives demanding a revision of
its status are increasing. An Expert Commission's report on cannabis will
appear next April. And cannabis supporters say they are ready to present a
new initiative to advance their cause. In short: both partisans and
adversaries of liberalisation of the status of cannabis are ready to
contest the matter.

IS THC A MEDICINE? SHOULD RESEARCH BE CONDUCTED?

The active substance of the cannabis should have interesting
"antispasmodic" effects.

In the United States, the debate concerning cannabis has been oriented
around possible therapeutic properties of its active ingredient, THC, and
it is thanks to these medicinal properties that some U.S. States now permit
its use. In Switzerland, defenders of cannabis prefer to stress the minimal
danger of this substance compared with alcohol, for example. But if not
directly concerned with the debate on law, the medical question is
pertinant. In Basel, research is in progress on the antispasmodic virtues
of THC. A medicine based on synthetic THC (and not cultivated at Saint
Gall?) is used for paraplegics to help them combat the violent muscle
spasms which result from their condition. "We are still researching this
question," comments its director, Rudi Brenneisen. "But we can already say
that this product compares favorably for the replacement of classic
remedies such as the benzodiazepines and analgesics." This medicine is now
authorized for use only in the U.S. as an anti-emetic.

Checked-by: Richard Lake