Tag: Switzerland

The trial will allow up to 400 participants to buy their cannabis in pharmacies – in exchange for being study participants

Here is the great news. Switzerland is moving ahead with its recreational cannabis trial. The first canton to be approved by the federal government, Basel, will allow a very limited number of adults (over 18) to buy and consume cannabis legally, beginning in September.

Here are the other prerequisites. Participants will have to participate in a formal study over the next 2.5 years to determine the impact of consumption on their physical and mental health. Participants will also not be allowed to resell the cannabis they purchase. Anyone who does will be both penalized and ejected from the study.

Other municipalities, including Zurich, Geneva, and Bern all still have their applications pending – but are also expected to be given the green light in the near term.

According to official estimates, there are about 220,000 regular recreational cannabis users in Switzerland. This seems a bit low in a country of about 8.5 million people. Everywhere else, cannabis users represent about 10% of the population. However, other places, especially in North America, have not segmented out medical vs recreational users as their markets get going.

Only time will tell.

Medical cannabis is legal in Switzerland – however, just like in other places, it remains extremely expensive and hard to come by. Physicians must obtain special approval to prescribe and at present, there are only 2 pharmacies allowed to dispense it.

Why Does the Swiss Trial Matter?

For those used to legalization in other jurisdictions, the Swiss approach seems a bit limited and more than a lot complicated and bureaucratic. However, it represents, in its own way, an important step in Europe towards recreational reform, which has been fought if not delayed almost everywhere by authorities and politicians alike.

This trial will, undoubtedly, reveal what those in North America already know, albeit with less formal data to support it. Namely, those who consume cannabis are not criminals, couch potatoes, or drawn from the dregs of society.

Beyond this, however, a formal trial will begin to finally and definitively answer many of the questions if not counter persistent stereotypes that are still being thrown about by those who oppose the inevitable. Namely consuming cannabis is less harmful than alcohol, and those who consume other illicit drugs, along with prescription substances, tend to use less of these as they transition to cannabis.

Of course, the trial is also being avidly watched just about everywhere else in Europe where the question of legalization is a burning political issue, no matter how many people downplay its importance.

The data from the Swiss trial is also likely to show up in every debate going forward, starting with DACH trading partner Germany.

The Federal Court of Justice has just ruled in favour of decriminalizing possession of up to 10 grams of cannabis

In a move that is well-timed – namely right before the new Swiss recreational cannabis trial begins, the Swiss Federal Court of Justice has decriminalized minor possession of cannabis. The ruling is in support of a District Court of Zurich decision in 2016 when a student refused to pay the fine for possessing 8 grams.

News moves quickly in the cannabis world these days. In Zurich, the City Council has already taken an official stance on decriminalization based on the court’s ruling.

Why Is This Important?

There are several reasons why this development is important. 

The first is that supposedly, technically, and legally, this puts a damper on fines for minor possession, hopefully for the last time. The police were supposed to stop issuing fines four years ago. Despite this, the Zurich police at least have said they will still “report small quantities” even though individuals can now no longer be fined.

However, beyond this, the implications are major both domestically and right across the border, starting with the idea that a European country (even if not in the EU) will take steps to amend its national Narcotics Act. This in turn will provide a guide for (at least) Germany which will have to do the same thing as soon as it passes some kind of recreational reform. 

Where Switzerland Goes…

While every country will implement cannabis laws in different strategies and time periods, one thing is for sure. Switzerland may be outside of the EU, but its evolving marketplace may well prove to be more of a template for other countries now moving towards cannabis legalization than either Holland (within the EU) or North American examples (the U.S. and Canada). 

This is important for several reasons, starting with the fact that right over the border in Germany, there is already a fierce debate about the form that the German retail cannabis market may take. Switzerland’s approach, namely backing distribution into pharmacies and social clubs, may well in fact be a model that Germany also adopts, at least initially.

Beyond this, however, it is conceivable that at least German legislators may well take another page out of the Swiss legalization book – namely starting a recreational “experiment” rather than full boat market all at once.

No matter what happens in the coming months, however, Switzerland at least, is clearing the books of outdated laws, and becoming a model in this regard for countries in the EU to follow.

Be sure to stay abreast of breaking developments in the European cannabis industry and attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Barcelona, Berlin and Zurich in 2022!

As of May 15, 2022, Switzerland will begin a recreational cannabis trial

It is official. The Swiss have chosen a date and the trial parameters. Switzerland is going recreational as of next year.

Here are the parameters. 5,000 Swiss people will be able to legally smoke cannabis. They will be part of a trial in which will measure effects on users’ health and consumption habits. Participants, as a result, will have to accept a follow-up interview and to limit their consumption.

Those who might worry that the consumption level is a bit low? Do not. Trial participants will be able to buy cannabis at up to 20% THC. Each month, participants will be able to consume up to 10 grams of THC. To put this in perspective, patients in Germany right now are being prescribed half a liquid gram a month (to the whopping tune of about $400).

This amount, in other words, is enough to get the average user more than toasty on a regular basis. It is also enough to make sure that patients who fall through the cracks will be able to have at least some access to legal cannabis. The fact that the trial will mandate sales at pharmacies makes this even more convenient.

Why This Is Important

Luxembourg and Switzerland will, as of next year, begin to set the pace on recreational reform discussions, and not just in their own countries of course, but across Europe. From the get-go, both extracts and edibles will be in the discussion.

Beyond this, the trial is likely to have an important impact on the question of dosing and how much patients should be getting across Europe.

From the recreational side, look for important discussions about driving and working. Not to mention how long THC stays “active” in bodies long after the immediate “high” is over (when it happens).

There is another reason, however, why this trial is important. It will be the first organized attempt by the government to put cannabis on sale and study those who buy it. It is also a deliberate attempt to create a legitimate market.

It will be watched, intently, for this reason, across the region.

Be sure to book your tickets for Berlin! The International Cannabis Business Conference is returning as of July, 2021!

Recreational cannabis will be available from Swiss pharmacies as of 2022, on a limited trial basis.

If there is one word to describe the European approach to cannabis generally, it has been so far, caution. If there was another, it would be regulation. There is nothing “casual” or indeterminate in every European national approach to a conversation that is now so overdue it is burning its way into international discourse.

Even more pressing for the Swiss at this point, a non-EU nation in the middle of Europe, is the fact that their neighbours in Luxembourg are barrelling towards a recreational experiment of their own in 2022.

The solution? A national trial which will allow up to 5,000 adults per participating municipality, to purchase cannabis in Swiss pharmacies – without a prescription. Even more intriguingly, all the cannabis sold via this route must be produced domestically (it cannot be imported). Furthermore, THC content may not exceed 20%.

Prices will be set to compete with the black market – and can be adjusted on the level of THC in the strain.

Cities must submit their own plans to participate in the trial, which is intended to run for five years.

Some of the other requirements are a bit vague including proving “previous experience” with the plant as a consumer. How is one supposed to “prove” a previous experience with cannabis? No doubt the savvy Swiss will find a way.

It may not be Colorado, in other words. But it is clearly a move in the right direction. And further, it may also signal where Luxembourg’s first recreational cannabis crops will come from beyond Portugal.

A Blended Market Based on High Levels of Testing

For all the lack of opportunity – at the moment – for a “coffee shop culture” there is one thing to say about the Swiss experiment. It will be regulated, from the beginning with high levels of testing along the way. GMP levels may not be required for cultivation but testing in GMP labs is likely to become de rigeur. In Switzerland, as well as across Europe. 

There are unlikely to be as a result, any pesticide scandals rocking the nascent Swiss recreational industry.

How this hybrid approach will work is still, for the moment, in the hands of cities across Switzerland who are now tasked with coming up with detailed plans. Will it all go as smoothly as a proverbial Swiss watch? Undoubtedly not. This is cannabis reform after all. But it is a venture into territory which for the most part, most European countries are still highly loath to tread.

For the most updated information on the changing regulations of the European cannabis industry, be sure to book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe, Summer of 2021.

Despite being put on hold due to the pandemic, the Swiss Parliament has passed a motion calling for a change in the country’s cannabis law.

The bill will do several things. The first is to allow the Swiss to export cannabis. The second is to authorize regular doctors to prescribe cannabis directly. Currently, the only “legal” Swiss patients must obtain prescriptions from the Federal Office of Public Health. This is expensive and time-consuming and at present, there are only about 3,000 “legal” patients. It is however estimated that there are over a hundred thousand Swiss people who obtain the drug illegally to treat their symptoms. 

It is expected that the new law will come into effect sometime in mid-2021.

Currently, hemp with less than 1% THC is the only cannabis crop in the country that is widely cultivated. Medical production here, like in other countries, must obtain GMP certification.

A Swiss Trial Project?

While all bets are off about timing, thanks to the pandemic, there will be a Swiss trial project that allows the controlled distribution of cannabis to adults (in other words a recreational trial). The National Council voted in favour of the project last December.

In February, this was approved by a single Parliamentary committee. The project also has to pass the Council of States before it can proceed.

Is Switzerland Waiting For the UN?

There is no telling how many national cannabis legalization projects, particularly in Europe, are waiting for the green light from the UN. The international body delayed the decision on the reclassification and rescheduling of cannabis for 9 months in March, literally ten days before declaring a global pandemic.

Why Is Switzerland Such A Strategic Lever For Change?

Despite being located in the “heart” of Europe geographically, the Swiss are not part of the EU. This technically means they are not bound by any European decisions on the drug, made from Brussels. 

What this new law will mean, presumably when it comes into force next year, is that Switzerland could zoom ahead of even Luxembourg, which has already announced that it will enable full cannabis reform by 2022. With export legalized, this means that Switzerland could overtake Holland as the single largest cannabis exporter in Europe, on both the medical and recreational side within two years.

There are other contenders vying for that prize of course, both within and without the EU. Denmark, which is also not an EU member, could vie for this business. 

This development could also move the needle of reform in Brussels, changing the ability of EU members to proceed. 

Everything, however, seems to be resting on the UN’s pending decision in December.

The International Cannabis Business Conference will be returning to Europe. Check the blog for the reinstated schedule.