The Swiss city of Bern will join Basel, Zurich, Lausanne and Geneva and will legally distribute cannabis this fall.
The Bernese pilot trial for the regulated sale of cannabis in pharmacies, called SCRIPT for Safer Cannabis – Research In Pharmacies randomized controlled Trialhas just been authorized by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP) and the Cantonal Ethics Commission and the Ethics Commission of North-West and Central Switzerland.
Main objective: to assess the health and social effects of selling cannabis in “strictly regulated, non-profit” pharmacies. To do this, the study will be monitored by the Universities of Bern and Lucerne. It will last 3 years, from October 2023 to April 2026.
It will be carried out in the cities of Bern, Biel and Lucerne and should start “probably in the fall”. The experiment plans to recruit 1,091 participants, including approximately 600 in the federal city.
Only people who already use cannabis for recreational purposes and who are at least 18 years old will be able to participate in the study. Only half of the participants will be allowed to buy cannabis products for the first six months.
Measuring the effects of legalization
According to Reto Auer, head of the SCRIPT study at the University of Bern: “The objective of the study is to test the health and social effects of selling cannabis in strictly regulated, non-profit pharmacies. “.
In this context, study participants will be able to obtain cannabis products, which have been produced specifically for the study, in selected pharmacies. With the amount of the sale, the pharmacies will cover their expenses and will do so on a non-profit basis.
The study aims to test a regulation that aims for strict control of supply and demand while allowing risk reduction measures. Thus, for example, no advertising will be allowed, the products will be sold in neutral and standardized packages.
Reto Auer explains: “These elements should make the products less attractive, especially for young people. We know the effectiveness of these measures from the field of smoking prevention”, before adding: “the aim of our study is therefore not a simple legalization of cannabis, but consists in testing risk reduction measures for address the problems caused by a ban and the illicit market while controlling the supply and demand for these products”.
The study should provide data for possible future regulation of cannabis at the federal level aimed at promoting public health and social security.
