Zurich cannabis study receives positive assessment
After grappling with the issue for years, Switzerland has decided to investigate the impact of decriminalising recreational cannabis. In 2020 parliament backed a legal change allowing for studies to provide scientific information for future decisions on cannabis regulation.
Keystone / Gaetan Bally
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Zurich cannabis study receives positive assessment
Health officials in the city of Zurich have given a positive assessment of a controlled study into the recreational use of cannabis, one year after it was launched.
“Our approach places the health of cannabis users at the centre and shows that modern prevention work can go hand in hand with controlled access to cannabis products,” declared Andreas Hauri, a member of the city government in charge of public health, in a press release issued on Thursday by the city of Zurich, the University of Zurich and the University Psychiatric Clinic Zurich.
Around 2,100 people have taken part in the pilot project approved by the Swiss federal authorities. Of these, 150 people have stopped participating. Over half of participants consume cannabis at least four times a week.
Over a 12-month period, a total of 300kg of cannabis products were sold to participants in Zurich in 21 pharmacies, social clubs and drug information centres in the city under the pilot scheme. A total of 36,000 sales of hashish and dried cannabis flowers were recorded.
The pilot project is scheduled to run until October 2026. A number of similar recreational cannabis studies are underway in several Swiss cities and cantons.
Translated from French by DeepL/sb
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Living longer: What do you think about the longevity trend?
The longevity market is booming thanks in part to advances in the science of ageing. What do you think of the idea of significantly extending human lifespan?
Swiss researchers develop new treatment against lymphoma
This content was published on
The cancer can be effectively combated with the radioactive element terbium. However, the therapy has not yet been tested on humans.
This content was published on
Florian Willet was present when the Sarco suicide capsule was first used in Switzerland in September 2024 and had been placed in pre-trial detention.
This content was published on
At the start of the 113th International Labour Conference in Geneva, Houngbo called for a "more efficient" organisation in front of the 187 member states
Microsoft invests $400 million in Swiss AI expansion
This content was published on
Among other things, the existing data centres in the Geneva and Zurich regions are being expanded as part of this investment.
This content was published on
This is the first study first to report a direct interaction between floating plastic debris in the atmosphere and any species.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.