The signatures are almost collected

128,000 signatures have been collected and many of them have already been certified. There is still some work to be done, but a submission of the initiative seems to be within reach. Slowly, one can think about how the vote could be won.

After the death of the narcotics law revision in June 2004, everyone finally saw it: an improvement of our situation would not come just like that. (That the proposed changes in NarcA were not really a good solution either, many did not want to believe anyway). The Swiss hemp scene was already pretty decimated at that time: Seizures, store closures, pre-trial detentions and criminal proceedings had left a clear mark. And to start an initiative in this situation was certainly not an easy task. (It would have been better to launch this initiative when there were still many stores with large turnovers - but then most people thought that the improvement would come on its own). So the start was not grandiose. After a few months, nothing remained of the goal to collect signatures very quickly. But thanks to the efforts of some tireless people, the collection continued and slowly became more professional, the credentials office made better progress. But, of course, nothing happened on its own. Most of the politicians who supported the initiative in the initial euphoria stuck to supporting it with words. But undaunted, the committee Pro Jugendschutz gegen Drogenkriminalität fought its way forward and today it can be said that the necessary signatures have been gathered. The certification process has not yet been completed, but there is a very good chance that the initiative can be submitted before the end of the collection period in January 2006. Already the first brains are at work preparing the campaign for the referendum. It will not be easy. It is still unclear where the millions for a successful referendum campaign are to come from - or what the forms of action would have to look like that “pull” with the public but require hardly any funds.

For me it is clear: What is needed if the initiative is to succeed is a reinterpretation. Today, THC users are for most people “hashish-fixers” or figures we Giaccobos “Fredi, the stoner”. In other words, people who belong to the dregs of society, incapable, stupid, unattractive, primitive, potty-mouthed and good for nothing. We should make it known that THC users are in their overwhelming majority parents, businessmen, integrated and working people, simply normal people, for whom THC use is an unproblematic, but extremely beautiful part of their life. In this way, the task we face is similar to what homosexuals have managed to accomplish in recent decades: Most people today no longer perceive gays and lesbians as perverted, sick or perhaps even criminal elements from whom society must protect itself (even with police and criminal law). Today, homosexuals can register their partnership with the state and their sexual preference for the same sex is seen by society for what it is: love. Such a reinterpretation does not happen overnight. It can only succeed if courageous THC-users stand up and say: We are successful, nice, decent, self-confident members of this society. We have achieved a lot economically and socially. We are very different, but we have our stimulant under control - it is a part of our lives with much else going on: Family, work, hobbies, commitment. Only when we manage to motivate hundreds of such people to stand up in public and represent our cause in a positive way, do we have a chance to win. But it is precisely these people who are afraid to expose themselves because they fear social ostracism. That's why they keep a low profile. All the more often, some crashed people appear in public, claiming to represent the THC-users (although they themselves are often simply polytoxicomaniacs, for whom smoking pot is an element of their drug consumption). This further cements the false image of us in the public eye.

To put together a group of experienced, older, integrated, presentable people who will come out - that seems to me to be the main task for the referendum campaign. Because we won't find the big money (we simply don't have the millions and the dealers have zero interest in legalization because they will go out of business). There are these people with positive, successful biographies. But they don't want to burn themselves out individually. But standing up in a group of 100 or 200 selected personalities and making their own consumption of life a topic of discussion in public (TV, press, events) could work. But it would take some building up: Trust would have to develop between these people. And they need an environment, say another 1,000 or 2,000 people, who support them. Because there will certainly be individual cases of hardship: People who lose their job or their car ticket. The support club would then have to help them effectively. With money, relationships, services and also moral support. In this way, it could be possible to turn the referendum campaign into an effective show where we can win, even if we do not achieve a majority in the vote. After all, it will probably take not just one initiative, but several attempts. The vast majority of initiatives do not find a majority - but even such initiatives can have positive effects. For example, by advancing a revision of the law.