B
British_Bulldog
Canna-Tour of Switzerland, May 2007
Having recently finished a week long canna-tour of Switzerland, dodging the police and traffic wardens (unless the police issue tickets as well, in which case I've just been dodging the police!), I thought I'd write a few words here to share my experience.
Before going, I researched everything I could about the Swiss herb scene, including here at icmag (thanks to the posters), at WeBeHigh's global herb website, through Google in general and also a German herb forum I found.
I found out that approx. 2-3 years ago the Swiss government changed to Conservative and following a vote and law-change, the police have closed 99.9% of the 'coffeeshops'/herb outlets in Switzerland!! This is a great shame as there's no harm in the herb and it's just forced all the Swiss smokers to hit the streets looking for herb, and in doing so mixing with hard drug dealers in the process.
However, I read that good herb is around, often better than Amsterdam (not that hard! lol), but it can be expensive.
So, armed with this (limited) info, I set off in the car.
DAY ONE:
---------
Things didn't start out well, as I got 'robbed' on the petrol in my car at a filling station by an awful exchange rate - daylight robbery, especially European fuel is already expensive and also since I'd already paid once to change GB Pounds into Euro, then Euro to Swiss Francs at a shitty rate. I hate paying more for fuel, and filling a full tank then getting the over-bloated bill was a sting....never again, lol...now I always ask the exchange rate in Switzerland first!
Having not smoked anything for weeks, I didn't take this daylight robbery in a passé way, but onwards and upwards to higher plains.
The first stop on this anti-clockwise tour was Zürich, the largest city in Switzerland and commonly thought of as the capital, which is instead Bern.
Arriving in Zürich was also a shock as parking was so expensive - 2 Francs an hour minimum, so found an okay spot near the centre and went out exploring. I checked out the red light district and found a few potential dealers, and saw people skinning up, so I knew I was in business. There are also dealers by the lake (African and Moroccan).
I won't go into detail about how I scored, to protect myself, the dealers and other customers, but within a couple of hours of walking around Zürich, and being thought of as police by dealers, I was smoking some good green. I would say for 20 Francs, I got approximately 1.5 grams, and for another 20 Francs from another dealer about a gram of better herb, which was covered in trichomes and smoked well - expensive though! and the dealer swore it was "2 grams of good shit from Amsterdam"!
Overall though I thought that 2.5 grams of good herb was ok for 40 Francs, especially considering I'd read "Zürich only has 50 Franc deals and you get around 2-3 grams".
DAY TWO:
----------
So, having smoked most of the bud, I moved on to the next stop which was Basel, a city on the French/German border in the far north west of Switzerland. I'd read online that herb could be found by the Rhine, from African dealers, so I finished the Zürich weed and set about exploring Basel and trying to find some dealers.
However, during the day there weren't any dealers around and as I was so tired after not sleeping properly the night before, come early evening I fell asleep in the car for a while and when I woke up it was quite late, and too late to be wandering around the Rhine looking for shady dealers.
So, what was a smoker to do, being right next to the border, I strongly considered a 300 mile drive to Holland, where I knew I could score primo buds for only 5 Euro (8 Francs) a gram, but as it was just a short tour, I wondered whether the extra petrol for another 600 miles could be justified (for the round trip), particularly with fuel being so expensive in Europe.
Hmmm, what to do....risk going on in my journey and not finding weed, going to Holland, or ending up going by to Zürich?? My decision was fortified by the fact that my research indicated strongly that I'd be able to score in Biel (AKA. Bienne) or Bern, which were my next stops, so I thought I'd stay in Switzerland and chance my luck in the north west, and failing that head back to the north east and score again in Zürich.
DAY THREE:
-----------
After sleeping and arriving in Biel, I had high hopes, especially since one of the first things I saw upon entering the town was a hydro shop!
So having parked up, I went in to ask if there was any herb around, but was told it's very difficult for a tourist to score there now, as the police have closed the shops.
Ok I thought, but I knew the herb was around and I was determined to get some. I wandered around, especially near the lake, as I'd read there were dealers there, and since I couldn't find any, I asked a couple of young dudes who looked liked they knew the scene and was told that some shops sell it, but everything's done discreetly now, 'under the counter' so to speak, and that I should just go in and ask at likely shops. I was told about a specific shop too, but couldn't find it. After asking at a couple of shops and almost offending the owners asking (discreetly) for herb, I came across another couple of young guys who looked like they smoked, so I asked them. After a few minutes chatting, they offered to sell me some themselves - some 'Pollem' for 6 Francs a gram they said. We walked back to their house and chatted about the Swiss scene along the way. When we arrived there, which was about a 10-15 minute walk away, I was first offered a bag of what seemed like leaves and schwag for 50 Francs, which I refused. Then they came back and showed me what looked like about 7-8 grams of low grade kif, for 40 Francs. So, having nothing else, I bought it hoping for the best, all the while them promising it was a good smoke.
As it was powder and I don't smoke tobacco, I got some suitable bags and was going to wear shoes and 'walk it' into hash in my heals and build a water-bong, but on close inspection, I didn't think it would make good hash, or even stick together, so I decided to eat a couple of grams of it with a pint of whole milk. It did have some effect after about an hour or so, but I wouldn't say it was great (not true kif I'm sure), and I needed something (much!) better.
This next bit will be a bit vague, but again it's for security reasons - I met a few people who were smoking herb in public, and after having a chat and for them to realise I wasn't police or an arsehole, they gave me their connection. After meeting with said connection just outside the town, I had successfully scored over 4 grams of excellent smoke for 50 Francs. I don't know the strain but I would say a sativa/indica hybrid with a good balanced high, not overly powerful by strong enough to do the job 'good 'n' proper'!
I set about rolling, smokin' (discreetly) and eating this herb and after a few hours was very high!
Night came and I carried on smoking, until it was time to move on and sleep.
DAY FOUR:
----------
The next morning, I went to the capital, Bern. This is a busy city, full of people, unlike Zurich which wasn't that packed with people really. There are loads of shops in Bern, and I did a bit of shopping while I was there, in-between smokin' small joints along the way! and I also ate around 2.5 grams of the powdered 'kif', again with whole milk, and Swiss chocolate.
I didn't try scoring anymore herb in Bern as I already had enough for the rest of my trip, as I'm sensitive to (all) drugs and don't need much to get high, even when I was awash with herb in the past and smoked all day every day.
I had a good look around, but it was just too busy and hectic for being wrecked up, and I decided to move onto more peaceful and chilled climes.
DAY FIVE:
---------
Next stop was Interlaken - a beautiful lake town in-between 2 lakes (hence "Inter-laken"!), with stunning scenery along the way! This would be a mainly driving day, checking out some superb mountain scenery and making smoke-stops where there were no people...which turned out to be more difficult than I expected, as people would stop as well and seem to come out of no-where, so it was fairly difficult to smoke, and I didn't want to smoke in the car in case of being stopped by the police and them smelling it. But I managed it and was good 'n' high, enjoying the awesome scenery around me!
After many hours driving and smoking, I stopped for the night and got my head down.
DAY SIX:
--------
Another driving day mainly, with only short stops out of the car, and I went to Luzern, around more lakes, to Locarno and Bellinzona. I've already been to Lugano before, so no need to stop there this time. More great scenery and more smoke followed, however I binned a third of the powder, as I didn't rate it and already had enough of the good herb to last.
Overall it was a cool trip, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The main places I didn't visit this time were Geneva and Lausanne which were too far to the south west for this trip, and also Chur to the east, all of which I intend to visit soon.
It's a great pity that the Swiss government decided to change their ways, otherwise I'm sure it would be legalised there by now, the way things were going. However, shit happens and where there's a will there's a way, in this case to find herb. Governments can make all the laws they like, but when it comes down to it they'll never win their "wars on drugs", and just end up wasting valuable resources instead of improving society.
PS. I have omitted various close shaves with the Swiss police, and where I slept, to protect my identity and security, as I intend to visit again in the near future, and all the herb was smoked in public.
I'm also very sorry there are no bud pics, paranoia about crossing borders with pics and wanting to return soon got the better of me, so they got deleted last minute...maybe next time!
Having recently finished a week long canna-tour of Switzerland, dodging the police and traffic wardens (unless the police issue tickets as well, in which case I've just been dodging the police!), I thought I'd write a few words here to share my experience.
Before going, I researched everything I could about the Swiss herb scene, including here at icmag (thanks to the posters), at WeBeHigh's global herb website, through Google in general and also a German herb forum I found.
I found out that approx. 2-3 years ago the Swiss government changed to Conservative and following a vote and law-change, the police have closed 99.9% of the 'coffeeshops'/herb outlets in Switzerland!! This is a great shame as there's no harm in the herb and it's just forced all the Swiss smokers to hit the streets looking for herb, and in doing so mixing with hard drug dealers in the process.
However, I read that good herb is around, often better than Amsterdam (not that hard! lol), but it can be expensive.
So, armed with this (limited) info, I set off in the car.
DAY ONE:
---------
Things didn't start out well, as I got 'robbed' on the petrol in my car at a filling station by an awful exchange rate - daylight robbery, especially European fuel is already expensive and also since I'd already paid once to change GB Pounds into Euro, then Euro to Swiss Francs at a shitty rate. I hate paying more for fuel, and filling a full tank then getting the over-bloated bill was a sting....never again, lol...now I always ask the exchange rate in Switzerland first!
Having not smoked anything for weeks, I didn't take this daylight robbery in a passé way, but onwards and upwards to higher plains.
The first stop on this anti-clockwise tour was Zürich, the largest city in Switzerland and commonly thought of as the capital, which is instead Bern.
Arriving in Zürich was also a shock as parking was so expensive - 2 Francs an hour minimum, so found an okay spot near the centre and went out exploring. I checked out the red light district and found a few potential dealers, and saw people skinning up, so I knew I was in business. There are also dealers by the lake (African and Moroccan).
I won't go into detail about how I scored, to protect myself, the dealers and other customers, but within a couple of hours of walking around Zürich, and being thought of as police by dealers, I was smoking some good green. I would say for 20 Francs, I got approximately 1.5 grams, and for another 20 Francs from another dealer about a gram of better herb, which was covered in trichomes and smoked well - expensive though! and the dealer swore it was "2 grams of good shit from Amsterdam"!
Overall though I thought that 2.5 grams of good herb was ok for 40 Francs, especially considering I'd read "Zürich only has 50 Franc deals and you get around 2-3 grams".
DAY TWO:
----------
So, having smoked most of the bud, I moved on to the next stop which was Basel, a city on the French/German border in the far north west of Switzerland. I'd read online that herb could be found by the Rhine, from African dealers, so I finished the Zürich weed and set about exploring Basel and trying to find some dealers.
However, during the day there weren't any dealers around and as I was so tired after not sleeping properly the night before, come early evening I fell asleep in the car for a while and when I woke up it was quite late, and too late to be wandering around the Rhine looking for shady dealers.
So, what was a smoker to do, being right next to the border, I strongly considered a 300 mile drive to Holland, where I knew I could score primo buds for only 5 Euro (8 Francs) a gram, but as it was just a short tour, I wondered whether the extra petrol for another 600 miles could be justified (for the round trip), particularly with fuel being so expensive in Europe.
Hmmm, what to do....risk going on in my journey and not finding weed, going to Holland, or ending up going by to Zürich?? My decision was fortified by the fact that my research indicated strongly that I'd be able to score in Biel (AKA. Bienne) or Bern, which were my next stops, so I thought I'd stay in Switzerland and chance my luck in the north west, and failing that head back to the north east and score again in Zürich.
DAY THREE:
-----------
After sleeping and arriving in Biel, I had high hopes, especially since one of the first things I saw upon entering the town was a hydro shop!
So having parked up, I went in to ask if there was any herb around, but was told it's very difficult for a tourist to score there now, as the police have closed the shops.
Ok I thought, but I knew the herb was around and I was determined to get some. I wandered around, especially near the lake, as I'd read there were dealers there, and since I couldn't find any, I asked a couple of young dudes who looked liked they knew the scene and was told that some shops sell it, but everything's done discreetly now, 'under the counter' so to speak, and that I should just go in and ask at likely shops. I was told about a specific shop too, but couldn't find it. After asking at a couple of shops and almost offending the owners asking (discreetly) for herb, I came across another couple of young guys who looked like they smoked, so I asked them. After a few minutes chatting, they offered to sell me some themselves - some 'Pollem' for 6 Francs a gram they said. We walked back to their house and chatted about the Swiss scene along the way. When we arrived there, which was about a 10-15 minute walk away, I was first offered a bag of what seemed like leaves and schwag for 50 Francs, which I refused. Then they came back and showed me what looked like about 7-8 grams of low grade kif, for 40 Francs. So, having nothing else, I bought it hoping for the best, all the while them promising it was a good smoke.
As it was powder and I don't smoke tobacco, I got some suitable bags and was going to wear shoes and 'walk it' into hash in my heals and build a water-bong, but on close inspection, I didn't think it would make good hash, or even stick together, so I decided to eat a couple of grams of it with a pint of whole milk. It did have some effect after about an hour or so, but I wouldn't say it was great (not true kif I'm sure), and I needed something (much!) better.
This next bit will be a bit vague, but again it's for security reasons - I met a few people who were smoking herb in public, and after having a chat and for them to realise I wasn't police or an arsehole, they gave me their connection. After meeting with said connection just outside the town, I had successfully scored over 4 grams of excellent smoke for 50 Francs. I don't know the strain but I would say a sativa/indica hybrid with a good balanced high, not overly powerful by strong enough to do the job 'good 'n' proper'!
I set about rolling, smokin' (discreetly) and eating this herb and after a few hours was very high!
Night came and I carried on smoking, until it was time to move on and sleep.
DAY FOUR:
----------
The next morning, I went to the capital, Bern. This is a busy city, full of people, unlike Zurich which wasn't that packed with people really. There are loads of shops in Bern, and I did a bit of shopping while I was there, in-between smokin' small joints along the way! and I also ate around 2.5 grams of the powdered 'kif', again with whole milk, and Swiss chocolate.
I didn't try scoring anymore herb in Bern as I already had enough for the rest of my trip, as I'm sensitive to (all) drugs and don't need much to get high, even when I was awash with herb in the past and smoked all day every day.
I had a good look around, but it was just too busy and hectic for being wrecked up, and I decided to move onto more peaceful and chilled climes.
DAY FIVE:
---------
Next stop was Interlaken - a beautiful lake town in-between 2 lakes (hence "Inter-laken"!), with stunning scenery along the way! This would be a mainly driving day, checking out some superb mountain scenery and making smoke-stops where there were no people...which turned out to be more difficult than I expected, as people would stop as well and seem to come out of no-where, so it was fairly difficult to smoke, and I didn't want to smoke in the car in case of being stopped by the police and them smelling it. But I managed it and was good 'n' high, enjoying the awesome scenery around me!
After many hours driving and smoking, I stopped for the night and got my head down.
DAY SIX:
--------
Another driving day mainly, with only short stops out of the car, and I went to Luzern, around more lakes, to Locarno and Bellinzona. I've already been to Lugano before, so no need to stop there this time. More great scenery and more smoke followed, however I binned a third of the powder, as I didn't rate it and already had enough of the good herb to last.
Overall it was a cool trip, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The main places I didn't visit this time were Geneva and Lausanne which were too far to the south west for this trip, and also Chur to the east, all of which I intend to visit soon.
It's a great pity that the Swiss government decided to change their ways, otherwise I'm sure it would be legalised there by now, the way things were going. However, shit happens and where there's a will there's a way, in this case to find herb. Governments can make all the laws they like, but when it comes down to it they'll never win their "wars on drugs", and just end up wasting valuable resources instead of improving society.
PS. I have omitted various close shaves with the Swiss police, and where I slept, to protect my identity and security, as I intend to visit again in the near future, and all the herb was smoked in public.
I'm also very sorry there are no bud pics, paranoia about crossing borders with pics and wanting to return soon got the better of me, so they got deleted last minute...maybe next time!
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