Book recommendation

The new book by Mischa Hauswirth “Der Cannabis-Irrsinn - Warum uns das Verbot schadet” was published in summer 2015. Some may have already read it during the vacations. For the others, it is now warmly recommended.

The foreword by Dick Marty alone is a trouvaille. The fact that a former prosecutor describes the misery and absurdity of the total hemp ban so impressively does not happen every day.

In six parts, Hauswirth denounces the sobering balance after more than half a century of THC prohibition as well as the senseless burning of taxpayers' money, interviews hemp researcher Prof. Brenneisen on medical use, deals with the effective danger of cannabis and shows a way out of today's messy situation. For all parts there is a double page with a summary of the most important points.

This multi-layered and pleasantly fluently written book is recommended to all those who deal with the topic of cannabis (repression) or want to have a say in current and future discussions.

After the book launch in Basel, a panel on the current hemp debate took place on June 6, 2015, moderated by Mischa Hauswirth. Participants from Basel included an SVP councillor, an SP councillor, a representative of the health department and the criminal law professor Peter Albrecht. It was interesting that meanwhile also conservative politicians see the senselessness of hemp repression and want to do something against it, even if great reservations about home cultivation or THC values of over 15% came to light.

The insight was clearly felt that something has to be changed, but also a certain helplessness: How to get all this going in Switzerland? After all, the Basel parliament has now twice asked the Basel government to do something, but it just doesn't want to…. At least more people are thinking about it. The new book can make a contribution to this.