Cannabis legalization may be on the ballot ; Higher taxes could keep wealthy from Switzerland; First Eurovision tickets sold in seven minutes

News for 4 February 2025

A National Council commission is considering lifting the ban on selling cannabis, but voters will likely have the final say in the matter. Based on the recommendations of the Federal Commission for Addiction Issues, deputy Heinz Siegenthaler is calling for decriminalisation of cannabis.

This move would "dry up the black market," as production and sale would be controlled by the state, and would therefore generate taxes. Such a measure would mean “more sense and less moralism, said MP Manuela Weichelt. “This is the right thing to do.” "Limited ability to concentrate and persevere, addiction, neglect and even inability to work and earn a living."

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In August 2022, the Young Swiss Socialist party (JUSO) had launched an initiative seeking to impose much higher taxes on inheritances of  50 million francs and up, with the the proceeds of this windfall to be used for environmental causes and climate control measures. The referendum on this issue is not expected before 2026, but a new survey by a consulting firm PWC shows the mere thought that the initiative might be accepted at the ballot box is “causing wealthy foreigners to turn their backs on Switzerland.”

The PWC report indicates that if these taxes were drastically raised, as the initiative suggests, and wealthy individuals would move away, billions would be lost in taxes; to compensate for the gap in this revenue, residents of impacted cantons would have to make up for the shortfall by paying higher taxes themselves. Marius Brülhart, Professor of Economics at the University of Lausanne, said " it should be assumed that multimillionaires will hesitate to move to Switzerland due to the current uncertainty caused by the initiative.”

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Nearly 42,000 tickets for the Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in May in Basel, were snapped up by eager fans. “Within seven minutes, there were no more tickets available for the live shows,” Swiss public broadcaster SRG SSR said in a press release. The preview shows were sold out within 20 minutes.

However, “fans who were unable to get a ticket but have [previously] registered should not give up hope, as there will be more ticket sales in the coming months,” the broadcaster said. The exact dates of next  ‘sales waves’ will be announced “in good time to give as many fans as possible a chance.”