'Cocaine sold at price of beer': Switzerland mulls legalising drug for recreational use in 'world's first'

Switzerland's "war on drugs has failed" and therefore, it is now considering legalising it. Several reports emerged this week, claiming that Switzerland's capital Bern is considering a pilot scheme to allow the sale of cocaine for recreational use.

BMJ, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, says, "'Recreational drugs' is a loose term that refers to legal and illegal drugs that are used without medical supervision." Meanwhile, Science Direct says, "'Recreational drug' use is a nonclinical term describing the use of a drug with the intention of enhancing life, inducing euphoria, or creating pleasure."

Now, Parliament in Bern has supported the idea of selling cocaine for recreational use. It is seen as a radical approach to the war on drugs that is not thought to have been tried elsewhere.

According to Reuters, the city's parliament still needs to overcome opposition from the city government and will also require a change in national law.

This comes as Switzerland is re-examining its stance on the drug. Some politicians and experts reportedly criticised a complete ban on drugs as ineffective.

The latest proposal is currently in its early stages, while trials are underway to permit the legal sale of cannabis.

Eva Chen, a member of the Bern council from the Alternative Left Party, who co-sponsored the proposal, was quoted as saying, "The war on drugs has failed, and we have to look at new ideas...Control and legalisation can do better than mere repression."

Chen said it was too early to say how a pilot scheme would develop, including where the drug would be sold or how it would be sourced.

"We are still far away from potential legalisation, but we should look at new approaches. We are calling for a scientifically supervised pilot scheme trial," Chen was quoted by Mirror as saying.

The report term the proposal at Bern Parliament as the "world's first".

Switzerland's cocaine use

Switzerland has one of the highest rates of cocaine use in Europe, according to the levels of illicit drugs and their metabolites measured in waste water. Prices for the drug in Switzerland have also halved over the past five years, Mirror reported.

"We have a lot of cocaine in Switzerland right now, at the cheapest prices and the highest quality we have ever seen," Frank Zobel, deputy director at Addiction Switzerland, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

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He added, "You can get a dose of cocaine for about 10 francs these days, not much more than the price for a beer."

Meanwhile, the Bern government said, "Cocaine can be life-threatening for both first-time and long-term users. The consequences of an overdose, but also individual intolerance to even the smallest amounts, can lead to death."

Drug policies across globe

Drugs policy around the world is evolving, with the US state of Oregon, for example, decriminalising possession of small amounts of cocaine in 2021 in favour of drug treatment.

Many European countries, including Spain, Italy and Portugal, no longer have prison sentences for possession of drugs including cocaine, although nowhere has gone as far as the proposal under discussion in Bern.

(With inputs from agencies)