It is always on the minds of people seeking advice: Can't you legally carry at least a few grams? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Because the mere consumption is already punishable, and the possession anyway. Therefore, it is always illegal narcotics, regardless of whether it is 0.1 or 100 grams.

Not all police forces pursue smoking pot with the same intensity. There are policemen and policewomen who let someone go who has only a few grams on him. But in the vast majority of cases, such a person is reported to the police and receives a fine. Only in Basel there are beginnings of an opportunity principle that is really formulated. The Basel Cannabis Report of early 2004 is supposed to define a common attitude of the whole Basel administration towards smoking pot.

„As before, consumption is only specifically prosecuted in Basel if there is a need to do so due to special circumstances (e.g. nuisance to the public and residents caused by a consumer scene or simultaneous suspicion of trafficking in cannabis).“

This is the concrete version of the Basel Opportunity Principle: consumption is prohibited, but in some cases it is not prosecuted. Whereby the criteria for this non-prosecution are already very fuzzy. Does a single pothead „bother“ other people at a streetcar station and then proceedings are initiated after all? Does one have to stand somewhere alone on the Rhine and if then the smoke does not stress anyone, it is ok? That leaves a lot of discretion to the police. But at least it is the very first version of a concrete opportunity principle. It is, so to speak, the most minimal form of a partial decriminalization of consumption.

However, it only applies to adults. „The Youth Prosecutor's Office conducts proceedings against young cannabis users when they become aware of their use, whereby the principle applies that the younger and the more frequently a minor has used cannabis, the more action is taken. The consequences are information of the parents and appropriate sanctions under juvenile law (reprimands, fines and, in the future, above all, compulsory participation in courses in order to deal with one's own consumption and life situation there).“

Such a view is the maximum that can be expected from the official side at the moment. The Bernese „Bund“ has written about this report:

„Normalkiffer should not be excluded.“ A wonderful word, „normal stoners“. If one really doesn't want to exclude us THC-users anymore, then the NarcA has to be changed. But at least it is a first step: Those who smoke pot at home, don't stress anyone with it, are adults and don't ingest too much THC will not be actively prosecuted. One can hope that other cities will adopt this Basel model - and expand it further.

The Basel model has not been adopted by any other cities so far. But in St. Gallen, a different approach has been taken: fines for THC consumption and possession of small amounts. Adults caught smoking pot and carrying no more than five grams pay a fine of 50 francs and are not registered. Juveniles, on the other hand, are still registered and called up for drug courses or work assignments. Neuchâtel is also to proceed in a similar manner. There are currently discussions about a nationwide fixed penalty model for cannabis, and it could be dealt with in parliament at the end of 2011. But this is not legalization, it remains illegal.

It is always on the minds of people seeking advice. Can't you legally carry at least a few grams on you? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Because the mere consumption is already punishable, and the possession anyway. Therefore, it is always illegal narcotics, regardless of whether it is 0.1 or 100 grams.

However, not all police forces pursue smoking pot with the same intensity. There are police officers who let someone go who has only a few grams on him. But in the vast majority of cases, such a person is reported and receives a fine. Only in Basel there are beginnings of an opportunity principle that is really formulated. The Basel Cannabis Report of early 2004 is supposed to define a common attitude of the whole Basel administration towards smoking pot.

<em>„As before, consumption is only specifically prosecuted in Basel if there is a need to do so due to special circumstances (e.g. harassment of the public and residents by a consumer scene or simultaneous suspicion of trafficking in cannabis).“ </em>This is the concrete version of the Basel Opportunity Principle: consumption is prohibited, but in some cases it is not prosecuted. Whereby the criteria for this non-prosecution are already very vague. Does a single pothead „bother“ other people at a streetcar station and then proceedings are initiated after all? Does one have to stand somewhere alone on the Rhine and if then the smoke does not stress anyone, it is ok? That leaves a lot of discretion to the police. But at least it is the very first version of a concrete opportunity principle. It is, so to speak, the most minimal form of partial decriminalization of consumption. However, it only applies to adults. <em>„The Youth Prosecutor's Office conducts proceedings against young cannabis users when they become aware of their use, whereby the principle applies that the younger and the more frequently a minor has used cannabis, the more action is taken. The consequences are information of the parents and appropriate sanctions under juvenile law (reprimands, fines and, in the future, above all, compulsory participation in courses in order to deal with one's own consumption and life situation there).“ </em>

Such a view is the maximum one can expect from the official side until the narcotics law is changed. The Bernese „Bund“ wrote about this report: <em>„Normalkiffer should not be excluded.“</em> A wonderful word, „normal stoners“. If one really doesn't want to exclude us THC-users anymore, then the NarcA has to be changed. But at least it is a first step: Those who smoke pot at home, don't stress anyone with it, are adults and don't ingest too much THC will not be actively prosecuted. One can hope that other cities will adopt this Basel model - and expand it further.

The Basel model has not been adopted by any other cities so far. But in St. Gallen, a different approach has been taken: fines for THC consumption and possession of small amounts. Adults caught smoking pot and carrying no more than a few grams (about five grams) pay a fine of 50 francs and are not registered. Juveniles, on the other hand, will still be registered and called up for drug courses or work assignments. Discussions are currently underway to extend this model to the whole of Switzerland.