The Swiss government wants to change the country's laws to decriminalize the use of cannabis but remains firm that hard drugs should continue to be punishable by law.
However, the cabinet has not yet decided whether to go further and make the growing of hemp legal in certain conditions, as well as the sale of marijuana and hashish.
The controversial proposal could go before parliament as early as the first half of next year but even if it is approved it could be another couple of years before cannabis users are free of the long arm of the law.
The proposal could be subject to a nationwide referendum.
Unsurprisingly, the move has sparked opposition. One of the four government parties, the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party (SVP) is worried about the proposal which has the backing of the other three.
"It's strange to decriminalize the use without looking to know where the product comes from," said a spokesman for the SVP, the party of billionaire industrialist Christoph Blocher.
But the government foresees measures to accompany the proposed change in legislation designed to protect children and youths from cannabis and prevent drug misuse.
"We could for example reinforce the penalties against those who incite use, or fix a minimum age of 16 or 18 for the usage of hemp," Swiss Interior Minister Ruth Dreifuss said on Monday.
Switzerland's policy on drugs has drawn worldwide attention through its system of giving addicts who have already tried treatments to kick their habit medically prescribed heroin under strict supervision.
In making the recommendation on cannabis, the government appears to have taken note of the outcome of a consultation process which rounded up last December.
It revealed widespread backing for an end to the prosecution of cannabis users.
Some two thirds of the cantons (or states) and organizations consulted in the process approved decriminalizing cannabis use.
The French-language newspaper Le Temps accused the government of following the consensus rather than coming up with a bold, new move and does not see the proposal as the answer to the entire problem.
"This single measure will not resolve that which today has become the central problem -- the existence of a visible, flourishing and largely illegal hemp economy," the paper said on Tuesday.
The seven-member Swiss government would have liked to have included in its draft narcotics law some provisions on 'substances leading to dependency' but faced strong opposition.
The move was contested during the consultations by wine and tobacco producers, Dreifuss said.
Meanwhile, an umbrella association of organizations in favor of a policy towards abstinence of drugs reacted with surprise to the move, which it pointed out came on the day the government decided to raise the cost of cigarettes.
For its part, an association representing specialists on drug addiction in German-speaking Switzerland said it was disappointed, accusing the government of a lack of courage.
It had hoped for the decriminalization of all drugs -- BERN, Switzerland(AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
