Swiss Study on Regulated Sale of Cannabis Gets Green Light

The Swiss University of Bern’s SCRIPT project (Safer Cannabis – Research in Pharmacies Trial), which will examine the health and social effects of regulated cannabis sales, will begin in the fall of 2023 in collaboration with the University of Lucerne and the cities of Bern, Biel, and Lucerne.

The study, according to a government press release, will test the health and social effects of selling cannabis in strictly regulated, non-profit pharmacies. The study aims to test a regulation that allows for strict control of supply and demand while allowing risk reduction measures. No advertising is allowed, and the products are sold in neutral and standardized packages to make them less attractive, especially to young people.

Trained pharmacy staff will offer advice on tobacco use and educate attendees about risk-reducing forms of use such as vaping or smoking.

“The distribution in pharmacies allows better information and the possibility of reducing risks. Cannabis sold on the illicit market can contain synthetic cannabinoids, pesticides, or fungal contamination, some of which are very dangerous,” the project states.

The study plans to recruit more than a thousand participants, of which, only half of the participants will be allowed to purchase regulated cannabis products from pharmacies for the first six months.

“The comparison of the fate of people in the two groups should make it possible to obtain study results that are as scientifically rigorous as possible, the project’s authors said in the May 10th release.

Similar studies have already been authorized in Basel, Zurich, and Lausanne.

The Swiss government lifted restrictions on cannabis for medical use from August 1st 2022, Global Cannabis Times reported last June. The cornerstone of that new legislation is physician-prescribed access to cannabis. The decision for cannabis-based medicine now rests with the doctor in consultation with the patient.