Switzerland to Introduce First Cannabis Sales Pilot Program in Europe
Switzerland will be launching a cannabis sales pilot program, making it the first country in Europe to experiment with such a program.
The “Weed Care” program will launch on September 15, and will last for two and half years, ending March 2025. 370 participants will be included in the study which will be based in Basel, the third largest city in Switzerland.
All participants are 18 or older, live in the immediate area and are already adult-use cannabis consumers.
The goal of this program will be to answer the question of how consumption changes with legal access.
"The first research question is whether consumption changes - whether more is consumed, less or the same amount," said Regine Steinauer, head of the addiction department at Basel University, as reported by Euronews.
The pilot program also seeks to study the physical and mental health changes involved with cannabis consumption. Participants will be limited to four types of cannabis products and two types of hash-based products.
Products will be provided via pharmacies that choose to participate in the program. Prices are based on current availability on the illicit market, with price per gram ranging CHF 8 (about $8 USD) to CHF 12 (about $12 USD).
All cannabis products will be produced by Pure Production AG. The company claims to be Europe’s first recreational THC producer thanks to the pilot program.
The cultivation, import and sale of non-medical THC cannabis is currently prohibited in Switzerland. However, cannabis consumption in Switzerland is widespread and the safety of users is not guaranteed with black market products.
For the Weed Cares pilot program, the flower provided to participants will range from 5%-17%, while hashish products will contain 13%-20% THC. In both cases, the THC average is much lower compared to recreational products available in the US.
Participants will be limited to 5 gram packs of cannabis that must be bought and consumed in a private room at the pharmacy. However possession of up to 10 grams is not punishable under Swiss law, so participants will be bale to purchase two 5 gram packs per visit.
According to the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the pilot program aims to increase knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of controlled access to cannabis and provide a scientific basis to legalize adult-use cannabis in the country.
The FOPH authorized the Weed Care pilot program on April 19 of this year, and now other Swiss cities are working on developing their own pilot programs for recreational cannabis.
The Office estimates that there are at least 200,000 recreational cannabis consumers in the country, and that is a modest estimate. The entire country has a population just over 8.5 million.
The last time Switzerland held a referendum to legalize recreational cannabis was in 2008, and 63% if Swiss citizens voted against the measure. The country fully legalized medical cannabis on August 1, 2022, making medical cannabis available through a physician’s prescription. Switzerland can also now export medical cannabis products for commercial purposes.