Some Switzerland residents can now legally buy recreational cannabis in pharmacies
Swiss authorities and experts working on the pilot program say it aims to study the effects of regulated cannabis sale on mental health and on consumption habits
Thursday, March 30, 2023
Decades after pioneering prescription heroin and safe injection sites, Switzerland is now experimenting with decriminalising recreational cannabis. It’s being done in a very Swiss way, according to addiction experts: taking things slow and steady to see how the population responds. Currently, cannabis is legal for medical use in the country, but only in extreme cases, such as pain relief for cancer patients. In 2021, around 70 percent of the population supported liberalising cannabis laws, up from 58 percent three years earlier, according to the Swiss health ministry. The federal government has now authorised trials to take place over the coming decade to experiment with decriminalising recreational cannabis, taking small steps like it did for four years before introducing prescribed heroin in the 1990s.