The legal sale of cocaine in the Swiss capital, Bern, may be authorized following the introduction of a bill last week, which was passed by a vote of 43 to 18. However, the sale of cocaine will not be permitted. not be legalized until the bill has been adopted at the federal level, by the Swiss government.
The Alternative Left party in Bern’s municipal government introduced the bill, which was opposed by city councilors from the center-right and religious parties. The bill received support from the left, including members of the Social Democratic Party.
Last year, Bern became one of the first cities in Europe to allow and implement the legal sale of cannabis. Conceived as a pilot study likely to be extended to the rest of the country, the SCRIPT project (Safer Cannabis – Research in Pharmacies Trial) from the Swiss University of Bern will study the effects of the legal sale of cannabis on society.
Last month, the federal government authorized the University of Bern’s cannabis sales pilot project, but the same is unlikely to happen for the sale of cocaine in the immediate future.
Franziska Teuscher, director of education, social affairs and sport for the municipal government of Bern, explained that the cannabis bill was passed at the federal level due to pressure exerted on the government by other cities.
She said, “The government only agreed to the cannabis pilot projects under pressure from the cities.” She added that the legal sale of cocaine bill was intended to send a signal to other cities.
Cocaine consumption in Switzerland is one of the highest in Europe. Four cities feature in the top 20: Zurich, Geneva and Basel occupy 5th, 6th and 7th place respectively, and Bern 18th (the list excludes cities located in non-EU countries).
A previous proposal to legalize cocaine sales was defeated in 2019, but revised plans with more restrictions won enough additional support from the left-leaning Social Democratic Party to pass the motion on Thursday.
Andre Gomes, communications manager at Release, said of the proposal: “This pilot project will be extremely interesting, given that Europe is the center of demand for global cocaine use. Although the details are not yet clear as to how this model will work, pressure from city-level initiatives has demonstrated the existence of potential future models of drug regulation. »
“The cocaine industry will only become safer when the global supply chain is reformed. How this cocaine will be obtained legally is not yet clear; whatever regulatory model is implemented, it will have to oppose the dangerous and ineffective global war on drugs”.
