The Swiss canton is launching the sale of cannabis for non-medical purposes on September 15. The six products will be open to around 370 people for two years.
The canton of Basel-City is launching the first Swiss pilot trial for the sale of cannabis for non-medical purposes on September 15, a project in which 370 people will participate for more than two years, he said on Thursday August 18.
In Switzerland, only the sale of cannabis for medical purposes is currently authorized, as well as the sale for non-medical purposes when the THC content (the psychotropic substance in cannabis) is less than 1%.
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Hashish is prohibited regardless of its THC content. Cannabis consumption is nevertheless widespread and the black market flourishing, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP). The FOPH has decided to authorize pilot trials for the controlled supply of cannabis for non-medical purposes in order to provide lessons on the effects of controlled access to cannabis, in particular on the health of consumers, their consumption habits or even the black market, with the aim of defining future legislation based on scientific evidence. The first test takes place in the canton of Basel-City, which baptized it “WEED CARE“. Others are planned in Zurich and Lausanne in the coming months. “Registration for the study is open today“, said the canton of Basel-City in a press release.
About 370 people can participate in the project, which will end in March 2025. You must be of legal age, have already used cannabis and be domiciled in the canton. Six products – four products in the form of dried cannabis flowers and two other products made from hashish – will be sold in nine pharmacies, each with a different THC/CBD content. The Basel authorities indicate that the price will be similar to that of the black market, between 8 and 12 Swiss francs (between 8.2 and 12.4 euros) per gram. Throughout the study, participants will be regularly questioned, among other things, about their cannabis consumption habits and their physical and mental health.
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In Basel-City, the products will be sold in pharmacies, while Lausanne has chosen to sell them in a specialized point of sale. According to the Federal Office of Public Health, surveys have shown that a majority of the population in Switzerland is open to the idea of fundamentally rethinking cannabis policy in the coming years. On June 22, the Swiss government had already approved the lifting of the ban on cannabis for medical use, in order to facilitate its access to patients who will no longer need to ask the authorities for an exceptional authorization for its prescription by a doctor.
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