Cannabis law reform in Switzerland: purpose, opportunities, and risks of local pilot projects
Several European countries are reforming their drug laws regarding cannabis. Following the rejection of cannabis legalisation by both parliament (2004) and voters (2008), Switzerland introduced administrative fines for cannabis use in 2013. At the same time, several Swiss cities designed projects to test cannabis sales at the local level but were denied a special authorisation to do them under the current drug law. The initiative led however to the adoption in 2021 of a new national legislation allowing such local trials for a period of ten years. Meanwhile, a parliamentary commission started working on a new draft law legalising and regulating the drug. Cannabis reforms now follow two parallel tracks: local pilot trials and a new law drafted by parliament. In an ideal world, the former should inform the latter, but political timelines make this difficult.
Federal authorities have defined the purpose and content of local cannabis trials: in each locality up to five thousand adults already using the drug can access controlled cannabis for a maximum of five years as part of a scientific study. Each local project has its own structure, funding mechanisms and model: sales are made in pharmacies, user clubs and/or dedicated sales point, while the scientific studies have different focus and designs. Responses of all participants to a common core questionnaire, sales data and an annual report drafted by each project, should provide data for a meta-analysis comparing the impact of different models and thereby responding to key questions about cannabis legalisation and regulation in Switzerland.
While the first pilot projects that started in 2023 were initiated by local authorities to develop knowledge and move forward with cannabis policy reforms, private players such as cannabis companies also use pilot trials for branding purposes or for taking market shares in view of a future legalisation which, from their viewpoint, should adopt the same regulatory frame as alcohol. Differently, the project of the city of Lausanne (Cann-L) has been designed to test and promote a dedicated fully controlled not for profit and harm reduction-oriented regulation model. Such a model is very uncommon in liberal Switzerland, but pilot trials provide an opportunity to test and promote unusual approaches making cannabis available without selling and promoting it like other goods.
The presentation will review the broader dynamics of cannabis reforms in Switzerland and briefly discuss the rules and variety of ongoing local pilot trials. It will then present the Cann-L project and data from its first year of implementation.
This submission was prepared in collaboration with colleagues Nadine Berndt (Luxembourg), Jakob Manthey and Uwe Verthein (Germany) who have submitted related studies on the topic of ‘cannabis law reform in Europe’ (proposed symposium title).
