Swiss Review 5/2021

Swiss Review / October 2021 / No.5 14 cushions, infusions, oils and fibres. Doctors signed prescriptions for the purchase of products containing THC. But things changed in 2006. The Val- ais farmer was condemned to five years and eight months imprison- ment by the district court of Martigny for serious breach of the Narcotics Act, as well as for bodily injury, money laundering, serious breach of road traffic rules and breach of various so- cial security laws. Between 1997 and 2001, according to the prosecutor, writes “Le Nouvelliste”, the Saxon farmer, who was “the biggest canna- bis trafficker in Switzerland”, had set up a “colossal” drug trafficking sys- tem. During this period, he had ille- gally sold five tons of recreational hemp, for a total revenue of five mil- lion Swiss francs. Rappaz also pos- sessed a “gigantic” stock of hemp in a factory in Chavalon, around 52 tons, with a market value of 35 million francs. The sentence was upheld on appeal. A seemingly strict sentence The former conscientious objector dis- putes the court verdicts and regrets nothing. “I have dedicated my life to defending a plant which has been made illegal for the wrong reasons, and to testing and demonstrating its multiple uses: therapeutic, recrea- tional and industrial,” he says. For Aba Neeman, his lawyer since 1995, “the courts in Valais wanted to get rid of himby giving hima long sentence, be- cause each time he completed a period of imprisonment for hemp growing, he started with cannabis again”. At that time, a liberal windwas softening attitudes towards cannabis, “but judges apply the law, and do not take account of political considerations”. The Confederation is to test the dispensing of marijuana The Confederation is in the process of super- vising the implementation of pilot trials in the distribution of cannabis for non-medicinal purposes. In 2020, the decision sparked resist- ance from SVP and CVP senators. “Cannabis is more harmful than tobacco and the number of people dependent on it is constantly on the rise,” argued Peter Hegglin (CVP/ZG). Public bodies will participate in this cannabis distri- bution under the umbrella of the Federal Office of Public Health. In Geneva, for example, the university has been mandated to lead trials planned to commence in 2022. The studies will notably provide information on the effects of controlled access to cannabis on the physical, psychic and social health and well-being of consumers. Tons of cannabis containing THC will be required. The Confed- eration aims for Swiss products, organic “if possible”, cultivated thanks to legal exemp- tions. (SH) For someone who claims to be in- spired by Gandhi, the accusation of bodily injury seems surprising. Nee- man confirms that the event appears to have consisted of a few slaps given to a young girl whilst Rappaz was on a trip to Laoswith a female friend.Was his client drunk on money? His law- yer considers that “he is not venal; he is an idealist. He was constantly in debt and he was negligent with his business.” Gabriel Bender notes that, “Rap- paz was imprisoned for years for cannabis, whilst the Valais wine pro- ducer Dominique Giroud, convicted for tax evasion, has not served a sin- gle year. It is an archaic system. In or- der to sanctify someone who drinks wine, you have to sacrifice someone who smokes cannabis.” A journalist from Geneva who interviewed the hemp farmer recalls a character who was very focused on himself. “Rap- paz was isolated”, he considers. “I put myself out in front, a bit likeWinkel- ried,” says Rappaz, comparing him- self to the legendary Swiss hero. Pensioner Rappaz at home in Isérables. Not surprisingly, he prefers cannabis to geraniums on his balcony. Photo: Stéphane Herzog Society