International

Switzerland: Pilot project with recreational cannabis advances in 2023

Published

1 year ago

December 9, 2022

The regulated sale of cannabis in Basel pharmacies can finally go ahead. After failures of 'compliance' and a lot of cannabis destroyed, the pilot project “Weed Care” settled the details with Pure Production, maintaining the intention of finding a national producer to supply cannabis for the study.

January 30, 2023. It is from this day that participants in the Swiss pilot project, taking place in Canton Basel-City, will be able to access cannabis for recreational purposes in local pharmacies. The Federal Office of Public Health stated in release having met the conditions to start sales of recreational cannabis in pharmacies in 2023, which will have four varieties of cannabis flower, and two varieties of hashish.

Local production rules out imports

The pilot project's original plans assumed that the cannabis available to consumers would be produced locally. The cannabis production company Pure Production from Zeiningen will supply two different hashish products, and provide users with four types of cannabis flowers. After the delays and difficulties in choosing a producer (by pesticide detection), the Federal Department of Public Health issued the license for the pilot project to proceed with Pure Production products. The statement also clarifies that the possibility discussed "prematurely" by the media, regarding the importation of these products, is excluded. The first crop of Swiss cannabis flowers, which delayed the start of the study, has been approved for destruction under official supervision, the statement said.

Participants will have access to 6 different products (whole cannabis dried flowers and hashish) with different THC/CBD levels, with the maximum total THC level established by law at 20%.

Flowers available for pilot project participants

More than 300 people registered

Despite the interruption and delay, the interviews carried out by the doctors responsible for recruiting for the study, took place normally, and at the moment, more than 300 citizens of the city will be enrolled. The cabinet predicts that by January all participants will probably have been chosen (the pilot project will have around 400 participants).

The joint study by the Basel-Stadt health department, university psychiatric clinics, Aargau psychiatric services and the University of Basel seeks to examine the health effects of regulated cannabis sales. The scientific knowledge gained will provide a basis for discussion for future responsible cannabis policy.

How will the study be carried out?

This study aims to examine the health effects of regulated cannabis sales compared to the current situation where cannabis is available illegally. In particular, it examines whether the offer of regulated cannabis sales in Basel-Stadt pharmacies has uptake and how this affects the consumption behavior and health of study participants.

Participants will be randomly divided into two groups:

Group 1 can buy in selected pharmacies at the beginning of the study.
the 2 group it can only do so with a delay of six months.

After six months, all study participants – including those in group 2 – have access to cannabis sales in pharmacies.

This study design is the gold standard of scientific research and allows examining possible changes in the consumption behavior and health of group 1, which has access to regulated cannabis sales, compared to group 2, which only has access to sales regulated after 6 months, depending on your previous sources during this period.

According to the portalWeed Care“, citizens who meet the eligibility requirements will be able to purchase cannabis for recreational purposes in pharmacies. The study began in September 2022 and ends in March 2025. Participation in the study includes a mandatory introductory meeting, and during the study, 5 mandatory online questionnaires will be conducted every 6 months. Likewise, short voluntary questionnaires are planned every two months, as well as an annual meeting at the study center, and a final one.

Participants will be able to buy a maximum of 10 grams of THC per month, which corresponds to 50 grams of flowers with 20% THC per month, or 100 grams of flowers, if they choose the option of flowers with 10% THC. However, in order not to violate cannabis possession legislation, pharmacies will dispense a maximum of 10 grams per person each day.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Disclaimer: Please note that this text was originally written in Portuguese and is translated into English and other languages using an automatic translator. Some words may differ from the original and typos or errors may occur in other languages.]

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do you do with €3 a month? Become one of our Patrons! If you believe that independent cannabis journalism is necessary, subscribe to one of the levels of our Patreon account and you will have access to unique gifts and exclusive content. If there are many of us, we can make a difference with little!

Antonio João Costa

+ posts

I am one of the directors of CannaReporter, which I founded together with Laura Ramos. I am from the unique Island of Madeira, where I currently reside. While I was in Lisbon at FCUL studying Physical Engineering, I became involved in the national hemp and cannabis scene and participated in several associations, some of which I am still a member of. I follow the global industry and especially legislative advances regarding the different uses of cannabis.

I can be contacted by email at joao.costa@cannareporter.eu