Bern, the capital of Switzerland, is considering proposals for a pilot scheme that would legalise the possession of cocaine. The plan would involve the recreational sale of the drug in the city, and will mirror an ongoing trial of selling cannabis in pharmacies in the area. The city government must back the scheme and Swiss national law needs to be changed for the trial to take place. Bern’s Parliament has expressed support for the proposal.
Switzerland has some of the highest levels of cocaine use in Europe, and the price of the drug has halved in the last five years. However, 70-80% of all cocaine sold in the country is in the top percentile of global purity, meaning that officials regard it as the “highest quality ever seen.” Supporters of the scheme believe that the “war on drugs has failed” and that legalization and control of the drug will work better than repression. However, the Bern government has warned that the drug can be life-threatening.
Spain, Italy and Portugal no longer impose prison sentences on those found in possession of cocaine, but no European country has yet legalized the drug. Bern will decide in the forthcoming weeks whether or not it will follow in the footsteps of the few European countries minimizing the prison sentences in conjunction with marijuana legalization. Critics argue that such a scheme will promote cocaine use, lead to increased addiction rates and inevitably cause health problems to users as a result of using unregulated drugs. Those in favour of the proposal believe that administering cocaine in a similar manner to cannabis will harm the black market and provide better access to cocaine that is free of potential adulterants.
The drug has always been controlled by such regulations, but in the era of oversupply and high quality, people are becoming increasingly addicted and overdoses are more likely. However, it is too early to explain more about the pilot scheme’s potential development including factors such as how the drug would sourced and where it would be sold, said Eva Chen, a member of the Bern council from the Alternative Left Party who has co-sponsored the proposal
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