Switzerland: On November 30 a national referendum was held in Switzerland that, if approved, would have totally legalized the possession, sale and cultivation of marijuana. Unfortunately 63% of the voters rejected the proposal.
Unlike the system in place in Holland, in which hundreds of coffee shops are allowed to sell small amounts of marijuana in a gray market, not technically legal but tolerated for decades, the proposal in Switzerland would have permitted marijuana to be sold to adults in supermarkets. The only remaining ban would have been prohibiting advertising, similar to bans on the advertising of alcohol and tobacco in that country.
A second referendum, to make permanent what had been a trial program of providing a clean and safe place for addicts to take government produced heroin, was approved by 68% of the Swiss voters on that same ballot.