Facts
The appellant, X., was convicted by the Geneva Police Court for an infringement of Art. 19 para. 1 of the Federal Act on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NarcA), for having sold without right in his business packets of hemp flowers with the aim of allowing the consumption of their contents as narcotics, between November 1996 and March 1997. The Criminal Chamber of the Geneva Court of Justice upheld this judgment.
It is established that the appellant sold hundreds of packets of "potpourri" of hemp flowers, realizing significant turnover. Although he took precautions such as affixing stickers indicating that the contents should not be used as narcotics, he was fully aware that the hemp sold was in fact consumed as narcotics.
Considerations
The Federal Court ruled that Art. 19 para. 1 NarcA applies not only to the narcotics referred to in Art. 1 NarcA, but also to those mentioned in Art. 8 para. 1 NarcA, including the cannabis plant in its entirety. Thus, the sale, i.e. the placing on the market, of hemp flowers falls under this provision when it is aimed at the extraction of narcotics.
In the present case,…