Recreational cannabis is now legally on sale in one of Switzerland’s largest cities.
The country officially launched its cannabis pilot project on Monday, allowing a few hundred selected participants to purchase cannabis for adult use from several pharmacies in the Swiss city of Basel.
The Swiss authorities gave the green light to the pilot project last year. In particular, the project aims to improve understanding of “alternative regulatory forms”, such as regulated sales in pharmacies, which could serve as a basis for future legislation and study its impact on consumers and the black market.
A sale of cannabis in pharmacies in Switzerland
In the Basel project, 374 adult participants and already consumers will be able to buy cannabis flower and hashish, all grown and processed in Switzerland in selected pharmacies in Basel. During the two and a half years that the study will last, they will be regularly questioned about their consumption and their physical and mental health.
The youngest participant is 18 years old, the oldest 76. The average age is 36 years old. As of Monday, a first group of around 180 people was able to buy cannabis products. The second group will start in six months.
Program participants will be strictly monitored by government regulators, and they are prohibited from sharing cannabis with anyone outside of the program.
Other Swiss cities should quickly join Basel, in particular Lausanne or Geneva.
An experiment under high control
Vigia AG, a Swiss company that provides tracking and tracing software, has “developed the cannabis dispensary system in partnership with the Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP) in order to reliably document the distribution of products”, which in turn “allows cannabis products to be tracked transparently and provides the basis for scientific research. »
“We are in an emerging industry where various paths to legalization are currently being discussed. With a structured legalization process, maximum compliance and transparency, Switzerland is leading by example. With our Cannavigia software and the Cannabis Dispensary System, we provide the various stakeholders with the necessary tools to track and document each step of the supply chain. We are proud to be part of the Swiss pilot projects and this historic milestone,” Philipp Hagenbach, COO of Vigia AG, said in a press release.
