How Swiss Reform Might Lead To Full Cannabis Legalization In Europe
Marguerite Arnold
May 19th, 2017
Policy
Swiss flag on the top of Mannlichen (Jungfrau region, Bern, Switzerland)
To those who think the U.S. or even Canada leads the way, cannabis legalization is a hot topic in Europe this spring. Here the stakes are also very different if not in some ways higher. “Reform” here always means of the federal variety. And with it, are coming some intriguing proposals particularly this year.
Hot on the heels of news in 2017 alone that Ireland would allow medical use and Germany will now cover the drug under health insurance, Swiss reform activists are reactivating their own attempts to free (and tax) the weed.
In Switzerland right now, this means full, recreational reform, not the medical variety now clearly underway in Deutschland. On the table right now is a proposal to fully legalize the drug and further license and tax the entire industry. As spokesperson Nino Forrer from “Legalize It” – a group pushing the new Swiss reform said, “The ban on cannabis is wrong from a social perspective, wrong from a legal point of view and simply stupid from an economic point of view.”
The initiative will change Article 105 of the Swiss federal law.
Times They Are Changing
In 2008, a similar proposal failed at the polls. 63% of the country said they did not want to legalize and tax the drug. However since then, things have changed, radically both internally and abroad.
Reform in the U.S. has been closely watched in Europe politically as well as economically. It is no secret that the German government considered medical reform a no-brainer. That is why they voted unanimously earlier this year to cover the drug under health insurance. That said, the details of how this roll-out will proceed are still very much in the mix. It is also clear to everyone that the five year medical “trial” period in Germany is not enough to satisfy activists. There will be at least some smaller “city” recreational trials here in the interim.
That is clearly what Swiss activists are betting on. They are also betting on a new level of political support at the federal if not EU level for an inevitability that is already well on its way across the continent. Beyond the German, Italian, Czech, Croatian and now Irish medical experiments, Holland and Spain continue to keep the conversation open on the recreational side. Switzerland could easily, in such an environment, become the continent’s first “test case” for a fully legalized and taxed country experiment, right in the heart of other reforms.
What the Swiss also have going for them, of course, is what is sometimes known as “proof of concept” to prove how profitable recreational reform can be. There are now 140 retailers registered to sell low-THC cannabis, up from just a handful last year.
In this environment, an initiative to just legalize and tax everything makes even more sense. Clearly, the government’s decision on this front was also timed as a response to the German government’s move forward in January.
No matter the details, therefore, it is clear that reform is moving forward. The Swiss are also not the only ones who recognize that.
What A Swiss Recreational Market Would Mean
If the Swiss proposal succeeds, this would further up the stakes for overall reform here in Europe. In fact, Switzerland could well end up as the “Colorado” of European states from this perspective. The recreational markets in both the Netherlands and Spain are still too ill-defined for a clear-cut legislative mandate to pass, let alone gain fast traction. Germany at least federally, has signalled that it will be another five years (at least) until they will consider federal recreational reform.
In Switzerland, in sharp contrast, cannabis containing up to 1% THC can already be sold legally and consumed. That has been the case since 2011. As a result, legal sales of such low potency pot have already topped 100 million Swiss francs per year. This means a tax income to the government of 25% of the total.
Sales have boomed again this year (since February) when authorities ordered that all cannabis products carry health warnings like tobacco. One new shop launched in December 2016 is already reporting earnings of about $95,000 per month.
That means that Swiss activists, if successful this time, could well create the first fully functional, taxed and compliant Euro market for recreational cannabis – and of greater potency than just 1%.
The country’s Germanic and French cultures could also help drive additional reform across at least two borders as well.
One thing however is very clear. In an environment where almost every national government here is being forced to admit the medical efficacy of the drug, the next logical question is, when does it become legal for everyone else?
The Swiss may very well have that answer.
This article was published by CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN), owner and operator of CFN Media, the industry’s leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the burgeoning CBD and legal cannabis industries. Call +1 (833) 420-CNFN for more information.
About Marguerite Arnold
Marguerite Arnold is a veteran investigative and markets journalist, American expat and author. She has covered the cannabis industry from Germany for the last six years. Her book, Green: The First Year of Modern American Cannabis Reform about the American market in 2014 has just been republished as she is writing the sequel about Europe and the global revolution this year. Green II: Spreading Like Kudzu will be published in 2020. She is also a noted technologist and entrepreneur. Her blockchain-based digital prescription platform MedPayRx was just shortlisted by the German Ministry of Health as one of the "Top 20" use cases for blockchain in healthcare.
Search CannabisFN
Press Coverage
Psychedelics Index
Top Videos
Rob is the co-founding President of Pelorus Equity Group and has more than 18 years of experience in the real estate finance industry. Since the formation of Pelorus in 2010, he has raised more than $175,000,000 in secured real estate transactions. Rob’s primary role at Pelorus Equity Group is the development of strategic alliances with […]
Tom Zuber is Zuber Lawler & Del Duca’s Managing Partner. He has a degree with highest honors in biomedical engineering and has advised some of the most iconic companies in the world on their patent and trademark portfolios. He is at the cutting edge of cannabis patent and trademark law. He holds degrees from Harvard University and Columbia Law […]
Resolve Digital Health Inc. committed to establishing a standard of care missing from the medical cannabis industry until now.
Village Farms International, Inc. is one of the largest and longest-operating vertically integrated greenhouse growers in North America. It is leveraging its 30-years as a mega-scale, low-cost greenhouse grower to capitalize on the cannabis opportunity in Canada.
Network Partners
About CFN Media Group
CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN) owns and operates CFN Media Group, the premier agency and financial media network reaching executives, entrepreneurs and consumers worldwide. Through its proprietary content creation, video library, and distribution via www.CannabisFN.com, CFN has built an extensive database of cannabis interest, assisting many of the world’s largest cannabis firms and CBD brands to build awareness and thrive. For more information, please visit www.cfnenterprisesinc.com.
Disclaimer: Matters discussed on this website contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may from time-to-time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and will increase or decrease such positions without notice. The Information contains forward-looking statements, i.e. statements or discussions that constitute predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, estimates, or projections as indicated by such words as "expects", "will", "anticipates", and "estimates"; therefore, you should proceed with extreme caution in relying upon such statements and conduct a full investigation of the Information and the Profiled Issuer as well as any such forward-looking statements. Any forward looking statements we make in the Information are limited to the time period in which they are made, and we do not undertake to update forward looking statements that may change at any time; The Information is presented only as a brief "snapshot" of the Profiled Issuer and should only be used, at most, and if at all, as a starting point for you to conduct a thorough investigation of the Profiled Issuer and its securities and to consult your financial, legal or other adviser(s) and avail yourself of the filings and information that may be accessed at www.sec.gov, www.pinksheets.com, www.otcmarkets.com or other electronic sources, including: (a) reviewing SEC periodic reports (Forms 10-Q and 10-K), reports of material events (Form 8-K), insider reports (Forms 3, 4, 5 and Schedule 13D); (b) reviewing Information and Disclosure Statements and unaudited financial reports filed with the Pink Sheets or www.otcmarkets.com; (c) obtaining and reviewing publicly available information contained in commonlyknown search engines such as Google; and (d) consulting investment guides at www.sec.gov and www.finra.com. You should always be cognizant that the Profiled Issuers may not be current in their reporting obligations with the SEC and OTCMarkets and/or have negative signs at www.otcmarkets.com (See section below titled "Risks Related to the Profiled Issuers, which provides additional information pertaining thereto). For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice and that of their own professional advisers. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may be compensated for its Services in the form of cash-based and/or equity-based compensation in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure, please visit: https://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/. A short time after we acquire the securities of the foregoing company, we may publish the (favorable) information about the issuer referenced above advising others, including you, to purchase; and while doing so, we may sell the securities we acquired. In addition, a third-party shareholder compensating us may sell his or her shares of the issuer while we are publishing favorable information about the issuer. Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and will increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice and that of their own professional advisers. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may be compensated for its Services in the form of cash-based and/or equity- based compensation in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: https://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/.
Copyright © Accelerize Inc. · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Legal Disclaimer
