Starting this summer, cannabis will be available for purchase in Basel pharmacies – at prices similar to those on the black market
For years, Swiss cities have fought to be able to conduct studies of legal cannabis dispensaries. Now the Federal Office of Public Health has given the green light for the first time.
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Tobacco, hemp and rolling paper - voilá, the joint is ready.
In the evening after work, before closing time, a quick visit to the dispensary to buy one or two joints legally will soon become routine for around 400 cannabis lovers in Basel. For the first time in Switzerland, a broad-based study is being carried out in the canton of Basel-Stadt in order to investigate cannabis consumption behavior.
The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) on Tuesday approved the first of several pilot studies with which various cities want to analyze the consequences of a legal sale of cannabis. Cities have been working toward these trials for years. The Basel project will initially last two and a half years, after which a balance sheet will be drawn up.
Cannabis grown in Aargau
The study is being conducted by the University Psychiatric Clinics Basel and the University of Basel in collaboration with the FOPH. The nearly four hundred participants can buy various products such as cannabis buds or hashish in certain pharmacies and get advice beforehand.
The products are manufactured in Switzerland, by a supplier from Zeiningen (Aargau), which has an exemption permit from the federal government. Every six months, participants will be surveyed about their consumption behavior and well-being. For example, researchers want to find out how buying cannabis through a controlled channel affects the amount consumed, physical and mental health, or the black market.
The Basel-Stadt health department does not fear a run on a trial site, as Lavinia Flückiger from the addiction department explained to the NZZ. On the one hand, participation is subject to various requirements: Only adults residing in Basel are allowed to participate. There are also health requirements. And finally, participation is not a bargain financially: For the cannabis, prices in the pharmacy are based on those on the black market. This is the law, in part to prevent resale on the street.
In Basel, this corresponds to 7 to 20 francs per gram, depending on the type and quantity. Pricing wasn’t all that easy, Flückiger explains: When asked, she would not say exactly how much the cannabis costs in Basel pharmacies. The products are sold in ready-to-use packages, with a total THC content of no more than 10 grams per month per person.
Zurich wants «social clubs»
Other cities are also working hard on cannabis studies. Cannabis products, for example, are expected to be legally available in Zurich starting in the fall. There, the idea is that cannabis can be purchased not only in pharmacies, but also in so-called social clubs. These are yet-to-be-established consumer clubs with their own venues.
The Zurich study aims to show the impact of the controlled sale of cannabis, coupled with prevention services, on users and public health. The health risks for consumers should be kept as low as possible. Ideally, consumers would switch to products with lower active ingredient content during the study period, Zurich explained last September. However, the approval of the FOPH is currently not yet available.
The legislation in place today has troubled cities for years: Cannabis is consumed virtually uninhibited, despite prohibition. Since 2013, adults who are caught with less than 10 grams of cannabis only have to pay a fine. Yet the resources to actually enforce the law are lacking.
However, a more far-reaching liberalization of cannabis use has so far proved unable to gain majority support in Switzerland: In 2008, a popular initiative to legalize cannabis use was rejected by 63% of voters and by all cantons. However, this did not change the fact that people in Switzerland continued to merrily smoke pot.
Legal back and forth
The cities of Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern and Winterthur therefore sought exemptions in the Narcotics Act (BetmG) to allow cannabis to be dispensed, at least in the context of scientific trials. This was followed by years of legal back-and-forth – until parliament revised the BetmG a year and a half ago. Since then, local and time-limited scientific pilot studies with cannabis have been permitted.
Cities are not the only ones making use of the new option. The Cannabis Research association, which is supported by politicians mainly from the center-left for the time being, has also planned several trials. The association attaches great importance to conducting quantitative research, as association president Paul-Lukas Good explained to the NZZ: Data from subjects with legal access would be compared with those from a control group that obtains cannabis on the black market. This, he said, is a valuable addition to what cities are trying to do.
However, it will be several years before the research results are evaluated. But the long-term goal seems clear: The longer the unenforceable cannabis prohibition lasts, the more it should be replaced by a legal regulation that enables legal and controlled acquisition of cannabis – as is already the case with other addictive substances.
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