Switzerland's capital is looking at a pilot scheme to legalise the sale of cocaine for recreational use.
Bern's parliament has supported the idea, but it would still need to overcome opposition from the city government and would also require a change in national law.
Switzerland has one of the highest levels of cocaine use in Europe, according to the levels of illicit drugs and their metabolites measured in waste water, with Zurich, Basel and Geneva all featuring in the top 10 cities in Europe.
Drugs policy around the world is evolving, with the US state of Oregon, for example, decriminalising possession of small amounts of cocaine in 2021, in favour of drug treatment.
Many European countries, including Spain, Italy and Portugal, no longer have prison sentences for possession of drugs including cocaine, although nowhere has gone as far as the proposal under discussion in Bern.
Switzerland is re-examining its stance on the drug after some politicians and experts criticised complete bans as ineffective. The proposal - currently in its early stages - follows trials now under way to permit the legal sale of cannabis.
Eva Chen, a member of the Bern council from the Alternative Left Party, who co-sponsored the proposal, said: "The war on drugs has failed, and we have to look at new ideas.
"Control and legalisation can do better than mere repression."
Frank Zobel, deputy director at Addiction Switzerland, said: "We have a lot of cocaine in Switzerland right now, at the cheapest prices and the highest quality we have ever seen.
"You can get a dose of cocaine for about 10 francs these days, not much more than the price for a beer."
Bern's education, social affairs and sport directorate is preparing a report on a possible cocaine trial, although this does not mean it will definitely take place.
"Cocaine can be life-threatening for both first-time and long-term users. The consequences of an overdose, but also individual intolerance to even the smallest amounts, can lead to death," the Bern government said.
Ms Chen said it was too early to say how a pilot scheme would develop, including where the drug would be sold or how it would be sourced.
"We are still far away from potential legalisation, but we should look at new approaches," Ms Chen said, adding, "that is why we are calling for a scientifically supervised pilot scheme trial."
For a trial to take place, parliament would have to amend the law banning the recreational use of the drug.
The decision could come in a matter of years, or earlier if the current cannabis schemes - which see the drug on sale at pharmacies - show successful results, political experts said.
Any legalisation would be accompanied by quality controls and information campaigns with the approach also reducing a lucrative criminal market, Ms Chen argues.
Experts are divided, with even those in favour of the trial concerned about the potential dangers.
Group leader of the University of Zurich's Centre for Psychiatric Research Boris Quednow said: "Cocaine is one of the most strongly addictive substances known."
He said its risks were in a completely different league to alcohol or cannabis, citing links to heart damage, strokes, depression and anxiety.
On the other hand, Thilo Beck, from the Arud Zentrum for Addiction Medicine, the largest centre for addiction medicine in Switzerland, said it was time for a more "grown-up" policy towards the drug.
"Cocaine isn't healthy - but the reality is that people use it," said Mr Beck.
He added: "We can't change that, so we should try to ensure people use it in the safest, least damaging way."
