Switzerland continues to expand cannabis research trials

A cannabis trial in the Bern, Lucerne and Biel areas and another in Geneva were recently approved in Switzerland.

According to a May 10 media release, the SCRIPT study (safer cannabis research in pharmacies, randomized controlled trial), which will include Bern, Lucerne and Biel, received approval from both the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) and the cantonal Commission of Ethics and the Northwestern and Central Switzerland Ethics Committee.

The research is being carried out by the Bern Institute for Family Medicine at the University of Bern and is expected to start between October 2023 and April 2026. The program assumes a sample size of 1,091 participants.

The head of the SCRIPT study at the university, Reto Auer, explained that the goal was to examine “health and social impacts” of a regulated cannabis industry in local dispensaries. “These elements are intended to make the products less attractive, especially for young people – we know that from tobacco prevention,” said Auer in a press release. “Our study therefore does not aim to legalize cannabis in the free market – but to address the problems caused by prohibition and the black market and to test possible approaches to harm reduction and tight control of supply and distribution, use and demand” for cannabis .”

Auer added that education by pharmacy sales staff can help prevent harm from preventable harm from tobacco or other substances. “Dispensing at the pharmacy enables better information and the possibility of reducing damage. Consumers often do not know what is in their cannabis. There is cannabis on the illicit market that contains synthetic cannabinoids, pesticides or fungi – some of which are very dangerous.”

Adults over the age of 18 may participate in the study. Half of the participants will be able to purchase cannabis in the first six months of the study. “The comparison of the fates of people in both groups should make it possible to obtain study results that are as scientifically sound as possible,” says the study announcement.

Another study initiative entitled “The Cannabinothek: a pilot project on the regulated sale of cannabis in the canton of Geneva” was also approved by the FOPH. Running from June 2023 to June 2027, this study, with a sample size of 1,080 participants, will “improve knowledge about the substance and the problems and concerns associated with it, and help reduce the health and social risks typically associated with drug use.”

Switzerland lifted its ban on medical cannabis in June 2022, paving the way for trials to begin. The country initially announced that it would conduct a cannabis trial as early as September 2021. The Swiss medical cannabis law came into force on August 1, 2022. “Until now, cannabis for medical purposes could not be cultivated, imported or processed without preparations being made for a special permit,” the BAG announced last year. “Treatment of patients with cannabis medicinal products that are not subject to authorization was only possible with an exceptional permit from the BAG and only in justified cases.” The demand for such permits has increased in recent years. This is administratively complex, delays treatment and no longer corresponds to the exceptional nature of the Narcotics Act.”

The first cannabis trial in Switzerland entitled “Züri Can – Cannabis with Responsibility” started on March 23, 2023 and involved a total of 2,100 participants. “The City of Zurich’s Cannabis Study attaches great importance to the self-determination, responsibility and cooperation of all those involved,” says the study’s website. “At all contact points, value is placed on individual advice on harm reduction and health promotion. The respective reference points can contribute their different strengths in the area of ​​individual and public health protection.”