Swiss move to legalise cannabis

BERNE, Switzerland (Reuters) -- The Swiss cabinet has proposed making it legal to smoke cannabis, but said other illicit drugs should remain outlawed for the time being.

It will now submit to parliament the proposed drug law revisions. The government said in a statement that a period of public comment on the amendments showed "basically broad support."

Swiss voters in 1998 rejected a proposal to legalise all drug consumption, but the aroma of burning cannabis often wafts through the Alpine country's parks and lakeside promenades.

Switzerland already has one of the most liberal approaches in Europe toward treating heroin addicts, providing free drugs and needles to some of those who do not respond to other forms of treatment designed to wean them from their habit.

A so-called "four pillars" approach to drugs aims at prevention, therapy, damage limitation and arresting users and those involved in the trade.

Switzerland once had the dubious honour of hosting Europe's largest open heroin scene, concentrated in Zurich's "needle park," but city officials drove it underground in the mid-1990s after the park became a mecca for Europe's drug addicts.

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