On August 1, 2022 Swiss time, Switzerland's medical cannabis law comes into force. This is the result of a revision of the Swiss Narcotics Act by the Federal Assembly, also known as the Swiss Parliament, almost a year and a half ago, when the Federal Council lifted the ban on medical cannabis in June.

As of today, medical cannabis patients will be allowed to obtain prescriptions directly from their doctors, without the need for permission from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). The amendment also allows the export of medical cannabis, provided that the authorised company seeks the approval of Swissmedic, which is responsible for the "authorisation and supervision of therapeutic products".

In a press release, the Federal Council stated that it was demand that had prompted the change, due to increased demand. In this translation, "BAG" stands for Bundesamt für Gesundheit or the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.

"Until now, medicinal cannabis has not been allowed to be cultivated, imported or processed into preparations without a special permit. Exempt authorised cannabis medicines can only be used to treat patients with a special permit from the BAG and only if it is reasonable to do so," the Federal Council said in a translated press release.

"The demand for such licences has increased in recent years. This is an administratively complex and delayed process that no longer meets the special nature of the provisions of the Narcotics Act. The Federal Council has therefore submitted a legal amendment to Parliament to lift the ban on cannabis for medical purposes adopted in March 2021. These drugs will still require a narcotic prescription."

Currently, Switzerland will only allow CBD products with a THC content of less than 1% and recreational cannabis will remain illegal. However, Switzerland is expected to launch its cannabis pilot programme in Basel, located in the north of the country, in collaboration with the University of Basel, its psychiatric clinic and the local government.

According to the April 2022 announcement, the program will allow approximately 400 people to purchase cannabis for recreational consumption experiments in September. Over the course of two and a half years, participants will answer questions about their physical and mental health. For use in this study, cannabis will be provided by Pure Production.

In addition, a study called "Züri Can - Cannabis with Responsibility", which aims to examine the effectiveness of medical cannabis, is nearing final approval. The study was originally announced in September 2021 and on 28 June the researchers confirmed that they had sent the application to the FOPH and the state ethics committee. There is currently a waiting list of people interested in the study, which allows for a total of 2,100 participants.

According to a new survey, cannabis generates around 1 billion Swiss francs in sales in Switzerland a year.

The figures, published by the University of Geneva in June, relate to the production, import and trade of grey economic areas as well as legal economic activities, and are particularly noteworthy for the benefits they bring in terms of cannabis policing, the justice system, social work and health services.

The researchers based their calculations on the annual consumption of 56 tonnes of cannabis in Switzerland - that's 750,000 cannabis cigarettes per day.

According to the researchers, this demand means that the Swiss recreational cannabis market generates annual revenues equivalent to CHF 582 million .

In addition, the survey shows that the total direct and indirect annual benefits of the rest of the cannabis industry, excluding gross value added, amount to approximately CHF 425 million. The "overall employment effect of economic activity" associated with the current cannabis industry is equivalent to approximately 4,400 full-time jobs.

The researchers also show the potential economic impact of alternative approaches to cannabis regulation by simulating three different scenarios. The resulting turnover fluctuates between 650 million Swiss francs and 200 million Swiss francs.