A pioneer in the field of heroin prescription and shoot rooms, Switzerland is now experimenting with the decriminalization of recreational cannabis, with a first trial in pharmacies in Basel.
Paul, a 42-year-old from Basel, whose identity AFP knows but has agreed not to reveal it at his request, considers "1,000 times better" to buy his cannabis in pharmacies, rather than on the sly as he did it for 25 years with "weird people or criminals".
"People are happy because for the first time they can legally buy it," enthuses Basel pharmacist Lucas Meister alongside him. His establishment is one of nine to participate in a trial until 2025 for the legal sale of so-called recreational cannabis, even if some use it, like Paul, to treat depression because medical cannabis is reserved for extreme cases. like cancer pain.
“We have the different products stored in the safe because it is mandatory,” he explains to AFP. Out comes colorful packets of candy packets, 5 grams each, containing six different products (four in the form of dried cannabis flowers, two hashish products), with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, euphoric substance) ranging from 4.5 to 20%.
In Switzerland, cannabis containing more than 1% THC is prohibited for consumption. Although possession of up to 10 grams for own consumption is not punishable, pressure is mounting for a change in the law.
In 2021, about 70% of the population favored liberalization, compared to 58% in 2018, according to the Ministry of Health.
"We must get out of the illicit cannabis framework, but make very strict regulations. It is not a question of encouraging its consumption", comments the vice-president of the Federal Commission for questions related to addictions, Barbara Broers, with from AFP.
"It is important that people have access to controlled and regulated products, but we are proposing to ban advertising, and to have plain packaging packages as for cigarettes in certain countries", she underlines.
The government opted for a policy of small steps, allowing trials for 10 years.
In Basel, thousands of people applied but only around 400 were selected, aged between 18 and 76. The objective is to study "the effects of the regulated sale of cannabis (...) on mental health and on consumption behavior", explains the head of the study, professor of psychiatry Marc Walter of the University of Basel, to AFP.
So far, the study has shown that participants mostly like “very high THC content products,” he says.
Prices, ranging from 8 to 12 francs per gram depending on the THC, follow the black market. "If they are too low, people will try to resell the product, and if they are too expensive, people will turn to the black market," said Marc Brüngger, one of the company's managers, to AFP. Swiss Pure Production, which produces the cannabis for the study.
Other major cities will launch trials, including Zurich, Geneva and Lausanne, but the sale will also take place in associations.
In Basel, Paul is delighted to have said "goodbye" to the dealers and to finally know what he is consuming: a "pure and organic cannabis", grown in Switzerland and whose quality is guaranteed by the authorities.
"I want to consume cannabis, not chemicals made in China," he told AFP, horrified by the arrival on the market of synthetic cannabinoids, molecules produced in the laboratory that mimic the effects of THC.
This marketing specialist regrets that Switzerland has not directly legalized, as in certain American states, Canada and Uruguay.
"Switzerland has chosen another path, and as a scientist, I prefer that," comments Professor Walter.
"It's very Swiss to do this kind of thing. You do a study to see how the population will react, what questions arise," adds Frank Zobel, deputy director of Addiction Switzerland.
"The model comes from the 90s" when Switzerland introduced the medical prescription of heroin, he says, "there too there were 4 years of pilot trials and today it is a treatment that is reimbursed by health insurance".
28/03/2023 17:03:47 - Basel (Switzerland) (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
