Swiss doctors prescribe cannabis without a “special permit” |

A not so quiet revolution is currently taking place in Switzerland. The country is preparing for what is probably the most disruptive leisure test in Europe.

In the meantime, all sorts of other follow-up events are underway. The government is in the process of removing the requirement that prescribing cannabis doctors obtain special permission before prescribing cannabis.

Last Wednesday, the Swiss Federal Council (the seven-member executive council that acts as the joint head of state and the federal government of the country) opened deliberations on the amendment to the national narcotics law.

Cannabis for both medicinal and recreational uses has been banned in the country since 1951. Such an amendment to the Federal Narcotics Act will allow Swiss doctors to prescribe cannabis more or less freely and at will. Approximately 3,000 approvals for the treatment of patients with cancer, neurological diseases and MS are currently granted annually.

This makes cannabis “only” a “controlled narcotic”, as is the case across the DACH border to Germany (DACH is an acronym for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which share a special trade alliance). The three countries are also closely linked culturally, starting with a common language.

The strange Swiss twist

Since this is cannabis, no matter where the reform takes place, there will be a turnaround.

It is positive that the cultivation, manufacture and sale of medical cannabis are being approved by the federal government for the first time. Commercial export is permitted. The rules for imports are less clear (although it is very unlikely that anyone would ban imports of EU GMP medicine).

Given that Switzerland’s immediate trading partner in the north (Germany) did so four years ago, this is hardly revolutionary. In fact, the first cannabis grown in Germany is just reaching German pharmacies.

In the meantime, growing for personal use is (of course) still prohibited.

And here’s the most unusual, if not cynical, twist of them all.

Within a few months, Switzerland will also start a unique leisure-time experiment. Namely, pharmacies can sell high-THC products to anyone with the money to pay for them as long as they’re over the age of 21.

The Swiss solution isn’t as cynical as the Dutch (who allowed insurers to stop reimbursing domestic claims for medicinal cannabis almost as soon as Germany changed the law that makes public insurers mandatory in 2017).

However, the experiment certainly takes place at an interesting time just across the border. At the recent ICBC in Berlin, one of the most heavily attended panel discussions by German federal politicians was how the wind of cannabis legalization will blow as a result of the elections at the end of September.

The cannabis reform is a sore point everywhere, even if not Germany, Europe’s largest market for medical cannabis (by far) and its most influential, is a hot topic almost everywhere.

It is also very unlikely that any reformer in Germany will ignore the opportunity to point out what the Swiss are doing now to the still very reluctant German politicians.

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One of the biggest beetles in the room, across the DACH region (which of course also Austria belongs to) is the persistent, draconian reaction of the authorities to any kind of cannabis reform. One example of this is the recent disaster of Lidl, one of the largest retailers in the world, in Munich.

In fact, the lack of reforms and the ridiculous criminal prosecutions, especially in Germany recently (hemp tea is also a popular topic) are likely to force at least some kind of reform, at least in Germany. Add a general relaxation of restrictions in Switzerland to the equation, along with what appears to be an already smoother, if not more sensible, plan for growing and producing, and the Swiss looked to be the leader in Europe, if not at all in the DACH -Region, reformed to take over things both medically and in leisure, if not wanted.

According to Dr. Francis Scanlan, CEO of Cloud 9 Switzerland, a life science company about to launch its own Swiss THC chocolate bar after its product launched as the first CBD edible in Dubai, the change is not only welcome , but also overdue.

“This is a very rational, albeit progressive, move in response to the acceptance by the majority of stakeholders in Swiss society that cannabis is a legitimate drug that really helps patients while lowering healthcare costs and generating tax revenue,” said Scanlan. “What is happening in Switzerland for prescription medical cannabis and our new recreational pilot program is very admirable and should be seen around the world as a pragmatic approach to regulating a plant that has been stigmatized for far too long.”