Switzerland may allow 5,000 people to smoke weed, for science

Switzerland is considering allowing up to 5,000 adults to legally smoke cannabis in small pilot studies to help develop guidelines for recreational consumption, the government announced on Thursday.

 

 

The plan will be made available for public comment until mid-2019, according to the Federal Health Office. The pilot projects explore issues that could lead to the country’s first changes to cannabis law since 1951.

Only adults who already consume cannabis will be permitted to participate in the studies.

The Swiss government estimates that approximately 200,000 people in the country use illicit cannabis— although forms of the drug with less than 1 percent THC have been permitted since July—after the University of Bern was forbidden by Swiss law from completing a study related to its use.

“Without undermining the general cannabis prohibition, we need to be able to test new regulation models under the current situation,” the government announced Thursday in a statement.

“Cities point to the negative impact of current laws, illegal trade in public places that is increasingly disruptive and makes people feel unsafe, and resource-sapping efforts to curb drug sales in urban areas. As a result, some cities want to find out how controlled access to cannabis affects its consumption, buying behaviours and the health of participants.”

The announcement comes as a reflection of Europe’s changing attitude surrounding cannabis. So far European neighbours such as Portugal, the Czech Republic and Spain have relaxed laws around the drug, while countries like Luxembourg are considering full legalization.