Flowering cannabis plants are seen in a greenhouse at a cannabis production company Phytocann near ... [+]
Following the recent historic moves in Germany to approve adult-use cannabis, Switzerland is launching its largest pilot trial yet, to determine the viability of adult-use cannabis legalization on its own terms.
Pilot trials to explore adult use have been planned in all major cities, and organizers will distribute cannabis in pharmacies, cannabis social clubs, and non-profit retail outlets as distribution channels. The pilot trials will provide insight on the different distribution systems and show which regulatory models work.
Now in the canton of Zürich, 7,500 participants will take part in the latest trial, with pharmacies in eventually six cities, serving 34 surrounding municipalities. The association Swiss Cannabis Research will be responsible for the project, and it was financed by donations, with a budget of around CHF1.5 million ($1.69 million).
It fulfills a goal to scout out potential legalization outcomes: On Sept. 25, 2020, the Swiss Parliament passed an amendment to the country’s Federal Act on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NarcA). Per the amendments to Article 8a NarcA, the revised Act provides a legal basis for conducting scientific pilot trials with cannabis. Then on May 15, 2021, an amendment to NarcA took efect allowing pilot trials to dispense cannabis for recreational purposes.
ETH Zürich’s KOF Swiss Economic Institute, a public research university in Zürich, and the University of Zürich’s Department of Economics will take part in the latest pilot trial with approvals from the federal government.
Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) announced the pilot trial Monday. In three towns in the canton Zürich—Winterthur, Schlieren and Horgen—study participants will be able to buy cannabis in specialist shops and pharmacies as early as May 2024. Consumers from 34 municipalities will be able to participate and visit them. Further points of sale in canton Zürich are planned in three more towns: Adliswil, Wädenswil, and Uster.
Medical cannabis is legal in Switzerland, but only for certain qualifying conditions, such as pain relief. Hemp can also be bought legally for non-medical use. The country has launched a series of experiments to determine if cannabis should be legal for adult use. In 2022, one such experiment in Basel involved 370 participants. In that case, pharmacies dispensed cananbis products from CHF8 (about $8) to CHF12 (about $12) per gram.
It’s the ninth time Switzerland has launched a pilot trial.
“So far, a total of nine pilot trials with cannabis for non-medical purposes have been authorized in various Swiss cities, among them the one in Zürich, which is the largest,” Daniel Dauwalde, media spokesman for Switzerland’s Federal Department of Home Affairs, says in an email.
Previous trials included various city-wide experiments in the cities of Lausanne, Zürich, Liestal, Allschwil, Bern, Bienne, and Lucerne, as well as others in the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Geneva.
Andreas Beerli, head of research from the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zürich, said that the team of researchers will focus on social and economic consequences for the participants. For example, researchers might determine whether adult-use cannabis has a positive effect on health and public education. They will also explore potential negative consequences.
“The aim of the pilot trial in the canton of Zürich is to investigate the social and economic consequences of legalizing recreational cannabis use in Switzerland,” the FOPH announced. “In addition, the effects of a self-regulation program for the prevention of excessive cannabis use are to be studied. This involves a randomized controlled trial (RCT).”
The pilot trial aims to narrow down the positive and negative effects of cannabis legalization and pinpoint the root causes of these effects. The research questions are the following:
- What are the effects of legal access to cannabis on various social and economic factors?
- What are the possible underlying mechanisms explaining these effects?
- Can the potentially negative effects of legalization be reduced by the availability of a voluntary programme to regulate cannabis use?
Organizers for the pilot trials are required to inform the FOPH annually about their progress, and the FOPH will provide information to the public based on this feedback on the website.
