Legalize it!
Switzerland intends to legalize the non-medical use of cannabis. For a pilot trial, certain pharmacies and CBD-shops will be allowed to sell it, in various strengths, to a select Swiss-wide cohort. The aim is to gain experience over a three to five-year period, “…that a regulated market be created for the cultivation, production, trade and consumption of cannabis”. One third of the adult Swiss population have tried cannabis at least once. A majority wants to see it regulated like alcohol. Luxemburg allows its citizens to grow up to four marijuana plants per household. Seeds are freely available for purchase and are taxed. Activists in countries like Spain (Catalonia) or Italy have experimented with growers’ clubs, another reasonable extension for the liberation of a plant growing naturally all over the world. In Canada, buyers need proof of age for legal purchase. The Canadian government estimates that legalization has led to a reduction of the illegal cannabis market by two thirds. A similar model is envisaged for Switzerland. So far, there are no provisions for letting users grows their own. Overall, market regulation is welcome, also for reasons of quality control. The Swiss Farmers’ Association has made sure only Swiss bio hemp is used in the upcoming pilot trial. All legal cannabis is to be grown outdoor, a pipe dream. How long it will take to achieve normalization for psychedelics is everybody’s guess. Big pharma is trying to make a decisive grab here. If they succeed, only licensed therapists will be able to administer genetically altered and patented psilocybin, for instance, within an equally patented set and setting, allowing for ‘replicability’. What could go wrong? Mexico wants to regulate traditional plant use. Individuals and groups pursuing spiritual interests will be controlled, do-it-yourself revelations actively repressed. Compared with a city like Seattle, where all psychedelics are legal, we have a long way to go.
Concerned, and with warm autumn greetings,
Susanne G. Seiler
Eye Spin Out
It was another arty choke
That smoky asphyxiation
Your oxygen deprivation
One of my most favourite sensations
Give the bong’s cone a poke
I’m in need of fresh inspiration
Take me on a mood elevation
At times – a cause of desperation
The ritual can leave me broke
A huge problem across our nation
The government’s sadistic taxation
We must put an end to this situation
The time has come for another toke
Protest the man and this aberration
Change the dial on the radio station
We want to grow our own, no agitation
Leaf van Amsterdam