Inhaltsverzeichnis
Info association Legalize it! 2014
You can find the 2013 posts here, and the current ones here.
07.12.2014 - Magazine Legalize it! No. 68 is shipped & No. 67 online
Last Friday evening we packed the Legalize it! No. 68 and it should be with our readers by the middle of the week.
We have also pdf'd another issue of our magazine Legalize it! It is Issue 67now available for Issue 67 download, both as a whole and as individual articles in the Justice, Culture and Scene sections.
The current issue is still reserved for our members.
Fall 2014
08.10.2014 => Autumn break until and including 24 October
We treat ourselves to a little autumn break! During this time there will be no Friday meetings and we are most likely to be reached by mail. The office will be manned as usual, only from October 15 to 17 we will not be available at all.
However, there are still some things to do during this time: We take care of the finances for the next year, clean up a bit and we have a project which we want to present in November and which should eat up some hours in October…
On October 31st we will start the last part of the year with a members meeting. You are welcome to support us - be it with a donation, a membership or your help. We wish everyone a wonderful fall season!
15.09.2014 - Magazine Legalize it! No. 67 is shipped & No. 66 online
Last Friday evening we packed the Legalize it! No. 67 and it should be with our readers by the middle of the week.
We have also pdf'd another issue of our magazine Legalize it! It is Issue 66now available for Issue 66 download both as a whole and as individual articles in the areas of politics, justice, culture and the scene. The current issue is still reserved for our members.
09/07/2014 - Federal Council sees no chance for cannabis social clubs (CSC)
An NZZ article drew our attention to the fact that the Federal Council had responded to two parliamentary questions: on the one hand to the interpellation of Jean-Pierre Grin (SVP/VD) and on the other hand to the postulate of Barbara Gysi (SP/SG), about which we had reported on 17.6.14.
In both answers, the Federal Council clearly states that in its opinion the current NarcA 1) does not offer the possibility to legally distribute cannabis for recreational use(in contrast to medical use, which continues to be handled by the BAG 2).
The EKDF 3) should continue to stay on the subject and submit a report to the Federal Council in 2017; later then the Federal Council will write a report for the attention of Parliament. If the Federal Council had its way, the topic would not appear on the political stage again until 2018 at the earliest - if that takes too long, you will have to take action yourself…
02.09.2014 - The Legalize it! at the CannaTrade
It was a nice fair, the CannaTrade last weekend. Many visitors streamed through the halls and we were able to convince some of them to become members of our association. The donation box was also briskly filled, so we came back to the office with money and addresses.
Our secretary Sven gave three presentations on THC and the law in Switzerland and took part in the panel. That he could take the time for this we owe to a dozen members who took super care of the booth and the crowd of visitors.
Many thanks also to the CannaTrade team for the clean organization of the fair!
Summer 2014
27.08.2014 - Large donations for Legalize it!
Now we have received total large donations over 7'500 francs - it goes forward! Many thanks to all the generous donors. So now we are missing a few thousand francs, to be able to secure the next months. Maybe you can pledge a big donation of 500, 1'000 or 2'500 francs? Yes, I can.
26.08.2014 => CannaTrade 2014 from 29-31 August
The last three days of August are all about hemp: The international hemp trade fair CannaTrade invites you to visit the Stadthalle Dietikon.
We from Legalize it! can be found in the basement at booth 104 and are looking forward to your visit. We are recruiting members and collecting donations - we urgently need a new push (see next entry).
The hope for some more hours of sunshine is intact and we are looking forward to an interesting weekend like in 2012!
19.08.2014 - Large donations for Legalize it!
We are in the process of securing the next months of our work and are still looking for large donations. Last week we received more than 5'000 francs (!), so we are still missing 7'000 francs. We hope to be able to organize a part of it at the CannaTrade. But this will not be enough and we would like to ask you if a large donation of 500, 1'000, 2'500 or 5'000 francs is possible for you? Big donors, get in touch!
11.08.2014 - Additions to Shit happens 9 and colored boxes in the wiki
The summer break is over - hopefully not quite yet!
We have been busy and have worked through most of the pending issues: The finances are recorded (unfortunately too little), the office tidied up, the Wiki provided with the new boxes and the first clarifications of the open legal issues written down: Our members have received a version on paper and now it is available PDF version online. PDF version
In the wiki we have equipped (besides the start page) the main pages of the THC and legal part with the same colored boxes as you can find in 9Shit happens . Now both versions (paper and online) harmonize with each other - not only in terms of content, but also in terms of appearance.
11.08.2014 => CannaTrade 2014 from 29-31 August
Keep the weekend of Friday, 29 to Sunday, 31 August already free: The international hemp trade fair CannaTrade will then take place in the Stadthalle Dietikon.
We hope you will also be there and are already looking forward to unforgettable days.
01.07.2014 => Summer break until and including 8 August
Now the big Legalize it! summer break. During this time we do not hold any Friday meetings and do not give any information by phone. But we are temporarily reachable by mail.
There are a lot of things to do: The most important thing will be the wiki - we will bring everything up to date and try to clean up old pages. Besides the half-yearly closing, there will also be cleaning up and technical things on the agenda - so we will certainly not be bored!
From August 11 on we will be back as usual and our Friday meetings will start on August 15 with the first of two preparation evenings for the CannaTrade.
We wish you all a wonderful summertime!
17.06.2014 => Postulate for controlled cannabis dispensary
On June 11, National Councilor Barbara Gysi (SP/SG) submitted a postulate on controlled cannabis dispensing. We were not familiar with Ms. Gysi, but she sits on the board of arud, among others, and should therefore have some experience in the field.
Even if the title „Legal Kiffen“ once again misses the point, the contribution in 10vor10 was interesting: The different positions come nicely to the fore, even if they are not new.
The FOPH, without whose approval such a project will hardly be possible, is already very skeptical about the whole thing. Possibly the only chance would be if such a pilot test were to run within an extremely narrow framework. For example, there would be only a few participants who would first be checked from head to toe, physically and psychologically, who would have to make honest statements about their consumption, who might even be allowed to consume only under supervision, and various tests would probably be made before and after consumption, in addition, questionnaires would have to be filled out regularly and interviews would have to be made - „smoking pot with Big Brother“, so to speak.
Whoever has been hoping in the last weeks and months that it will be possible to get cannabis legally in Switzerland in the near future, anonymously and without having to give any information, is unfortunately dreaming. By the way, the postulate in question demands a report from the Federal Council by 2017 - which brings us back to the pace of Swiss politics: If something should come about at all, then certainly not in the near future!
08.06.2014 - Magazine Legalize it! No. 66 is shipped & No. 65 online
Last Friday evening we packed the Legalize it! No. 66 and on Saturday Sven put it in the mail. So our readers should find the latest issue of our magazine in their mailbox next week as usual.
We have also pdf'd another issue of our magazine Legalize it! It is Issue 65now available for Issue 65 download as a whole as well as single articles in the sections politics, justice and scene.
The current issue is still reserved for our members.
01.06.2014 => Miscellaneous messages
After a positive sign of life from Neuchâtel and the submission of the Biel petition, there is now also a petition in Lausanne (en français). There is no news from Geneva - we are still waiting for a decision on whether to submit a petition to the FOPH… so it will take time, the outcome is unclear.
In our neighborhood there is also a lot going on: In South Tyrol (part of Italy, but spoken mostly in German) there is a petition for the legalization of cannabis. And the German Hemp Association won a million euros in a TV show in January - that should be enough to do a lot of things.
So something is already moving, but mostly it takes (for us) unfortunately half an eternity. Others are faster: the (South) Americans (especially Colorado, but also Washington State and now also Uruguay) or the Spaniards (Barcelona) - there are more and more examples of places that have found a more relaxed, but still regulated way of dealing with cannabis within a useful period of time.
Sure, it's all still pretty fresh and it remains to be seen how the experiences will be, but as long as the whole thing is supported by the population and the tax revenues just bubble in…
So the hope remains that also in our country something is still possible - after all, it's about millions of taxes and that should actually interest Mr. and Mrs. Swiss…
Spring 2014
19.05.2014 => Two petitions and what else is going on
First of all, the important thing: There are two hemp petitions that can certainly use support - cannabispetition.ch in Biel and the Zug hemp petition.
Unfortunately, there is also an unpleasant message from Zug and Lucerne: The opponents of a liberalization are not idle and many even get a salary while they make life difficult for cannabis consumers…
As already mentioned in April, there has been a lot of talk about legalization and pilot projects this year, but little or nothing has happened (e.g. in Zurich, Basel and Bern). Recently, representatives of various cities have sat down to discuss the issue behind closed doors - will anything ever come of it?
In Switzerland, we should be used to the leisurely political pace… but with every sign of life from politics, we dream again of the golden age of the stores around the turn of the millennium, when there were fine weed in rough quantities and we were still young. 
Whether really useful and useful proposals will ever come from politics is a matter of opinion. Most of the time, we just get patches of politics or proposals that are muddled through compromises and ignorance, which often do not arrive in reality as intended (such as the fines, which are also issued for the mere possession of a small amount, although exactly this offense would be exempt from punishment ).
29.04.2014 => Narcotics statistics 2013
In recent weeks and months, there has been a lot of talk and writing about legalization internationally, possible pilot projects, and milder repression with the fines talked and written about. At the end of March, the conviction figures for the year 2013 have now been published, for the first time with the fines (only three months).
There can be no talk of leniency: For the first time, the number of convictions exceeded the 50,000 mark. This means that in 2013, someone was reported for cannabis almost every ten minutes in Switzerland - that's pretty stark! And the more than 2,000 fines are not even included, they will probably increase in 2014… In June, we will bring a detailed report in Legalize it! No. 66.
As mentioned in April, there has been a lot of talk about legalization and pilot projects this year, but little or nothing has happened. Recently, representatives of various cities sat down to discuss the issue behind closed doors - will anything ever come of it?
In Switzerland, we should be used to the leisurely political pace… but with every sign of life from politics, we dream again of the golden age of the stores around the turn of the millennium, when fine weed was available in great quantities and we were still young.
29.04.2014 => CannaTrade 2014 from 29-31 August
Mark your calendar already: The international hemp trade fair CannaTrade will take place this year from Friday, August 29 to Sunday, August 31 - as two years ago in the Stadthalle Dietikon.
We hope you will also be there and are already looking forward to unforgettable days at the end of August.
18.03.2014 => Spring break until and including 18 April
From March 21 through April 18 (Good Friday) we will be on break and there will be no Friday meetings.
The office will be staffed only irregularly - the best way to reach us is by mail. Besides finances and technical things we will mainly take care of fundraising and planning for the next months.
On April 25th we will start again with a members meeting.
We wish you all nice spring days and a successful start into the new season!
10.03.2014 - Magazine Legalize it! No. 65 is shipped & No. 64 online
Last Friday we packed the current number 65, so it should arrive at our readers in the middle of the week. Many thanks to all who helped!
We have also pdf'd another issue of our magazine Legalize it! It is Issue 64now available for Issue 64 download both as a whole and as individual articles in the culture and scene sections.
The current issue is still reserved for our members.
Winter 13/14
31.01.2014 - Association meeting 2014
Last Friday we really started the new year and prepared the association meeting on January 31. The figures for the annual accounts are already available, now we have to prepare the annual report. With this we would have most of the ingredients for the official part of the AGM together.
There will certainly be enough time for questions and discussions - an important part of the evening, especially in a special year like this one.
We look forward to welcoming many new and old familiar members!
25.01.2014 => Mixed feelings: good news and reality
In the program „Rundschau“ of Swiss television was broadcast on 15.1.14 an interesting contribution on the subject of cannabis: Clip / Article.
The reports from Colorado, Uruguay and e.g. Barcelona are very pleasing, but they collide with the fact that the new fines are distributed in Switzerland also for the mere possession (of small amounts) - so the police have expanded the law to their liking! We will report on this in Legalize it! No. 65 about this.
In this field of tension, after more than a year of radio silence, the idea of a pilot project for cannabis sales appears again. This time the battle cry comes from Geneva, after Basel and Zurich in the fall of 2012 had rated the chances of just getting approval from the FOPH as so low that the project was put on hold. At that time, it was said that a broadly supported, national project would have the best chance of being approved. It remains to be seen whether the critical mass for such a nationwide project will now be reached with Geneva - the term „civil disobedience“ is in any case new in this discussion.
We are curious to see whether the fighting words from Geneva will be followed by deeds - unfortunately, in the cannabis sector in particular, it all too often remains mere declarations of intent. This is different with the police: There is no communication at all, and fines are handed out for offenses that are explicitly not punishable by law!
You can find the 2013 posts here, and the current ones here.