Early Results From Swiss Cannabis Pilot Bolster Case for Federal Legalisation

The move comes as the Swiss Federal Government continues to consider its draft Cannabis Products Act, which could see nationwide legalisation introduced as early as next year. If approved, Switzerland would become the first European country to implement a fully regulated, though non-profit, adult-use cannabis market.

Originally intended to inform federal policy design, Switzerland’s seven authorised pilot trials now look likely to overlap with national implementation. This means data from projects such as Züri Can may continue to shape policy even after the law takes effect.

While early reports from Zurich suggest high participant satisfaction and measurable diversion from the black market, researchers caution that comprehensive health and behavioural findings will take years to assess. 

The federal draft bill, which mandates periodic evaluation and allows cantonal flexibility, appears to anticipate such ongoing adaptation, a signal that Switzerland’s approach to legalisation will remain iterative and evidence-led.

The City of Zurich has applied to extend its ‘Züri Can: Cannabis with Responsibility’ adult-use cannabis pilot until 2028, two years beyond its original 2026 end date, following what officials describe as encouraging early results in reducing illicit sales and improving public-health outcomes.

According to city authorities, the proposal was submitted on 20 October 2025, and would require approval from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), which oversees all national pilot projects. The city has requested an additional CHF 800,000 (€865,500) in funding to continue operations over the next three years.

Since its launch in 2023, Züri Can has enrolled more than 2,300 participants and recorded around 88,000 legal transactions, corresponding to roughly 750 kg of cannabis sold under strict regulation. Officials estimate this represents CHF 7.5m (€8.11m) withdrawn from the black market, highlighting the programme’s potential to shift consumption toward legal, safer channels.

City councillor Andreas Hauri, who heads Zurich’s Department of Health and Environment, said the extension would allow authorities to continue evaluating long-term health and behavioural effects. 

If approved, the extension would make Züri Can one of Europe’s longest-running and most data-rich cannabis regulation studies, producing evidence that could directly inform Switzerland’s forthcoming Cannabis Products Act (CanPG) and guide future amendments under the law’s built-in evaluation framework.

The latest academic review of Züri Can offers the most detailed insight yet into how Switzerland’s pilot is designed to test the public-health impacts of regulated cannabis sales.

Published in September 2024 in the International Journal of Drug Policy, the study outlines how the project is assessing behavioural, mental-health, and social outcomes among a cohort of 2,100  (when the study was conducted) regular cannabis users over three years. 

Participants can legally buy cannabis from one of three types of outlets, pharmacies, non-profit social clubs, or the municipal drug information centre (DIZ), each designed to test different models of controlled access.

According to the research team from the Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich (PUK) and the University of Zurich, the study aims to identify which frameworks most effectively promote lower-risk cannabis use. “Legal regulation makes it possible to apply specific harm-reduction measures to reduce the potential risks associated with cannabis use and to promote public health,” the authors stated.

Unlike previous international models that either over-commercialised or relied on prohibition, Züri Can was conceived as a ‘middle-ground’ framework, balancing access and safety. It also introduced a novel assessment tool, the Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Knowledge (LRCU-K) and Behaviour (LRCU-B) scales, to measure whether participants learn and apply safer-use principles over time.

“We hypothesise that … a multi-level implementation of harm-reduction principles with repeated and tailored provision of such information in a trusting environment will lead to an increase in specific knowledge and its behavioural implementation,” the study notes.

The researchers emphasise that their findings will not only inform Zurich’s public-health strategies but also help determine how Switzerland designs and adjusts its national cannabis market once the federal legalisation framework, the Cannabis Products Act (CanPG), is enacted.

“Its objective … is to contribute to the closing of existing knowledge gaps regarding suitable regulatory measures in the context of a possible future legalisation.”

The paper positions Züri Can as an evolving blueprint for health-centred cannabis policy, where scientific data precede commercial expansion,  an approach that stands in contrast to the faster, politically-driven legalisation models seen in North America.

The extension of Züri Can comes as Switzerland prepares to transition from isolated research pilots to a fully regulated national cannabis market under the proposed Cannabis Products Act (CanPG).

The law’s structure reflects many of the same principles tested in Züri Can: capped THC levels, age restrictions, a ban on advertising, and mandatory harm-reduction messaging at points of sale. It also mirrors the study’s participatory approach, allowing cantons to determine certain operational rules, such as licensing conditions or retail hours, within a nationally standardised framework.

Cannavigia, the Swiss provider of the track-and-trace software for the Züri Can trial, highlights some potential risks attached to this cantonal control, as seen in the patchwork regulations across German federal states. 

It’s Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Luc Richner, told Business of Cannabis: “The risk is obvious: fragmentation and uneven playing fields. If cantons interpret and implement differently, businesses face additional costs and uncertainty. 

“At the same time, Switzerland has a strong tradition of federalism, and if done right, cantons can tailor concessions to local realities while still aligning under a national framework. The challenge, and opportunity, will be to ensure that differences do not result in bottlenecks or inequities but instead enrich the diversity of the market.”

Another core pillar of the draft law seen in the Züri Can trial is its THC-based health levy, an alternative to conventional excise taxation. While the mechanism remains under consultation, Richner sees potential in a model that ties fiscal policy directly to harm-reduction goals.

“It seems like an innovative model, but is well established in alcohol and tobacco in Switzerland,” he said. 

“We see this as a driver for competitiveness and the drive to innovate on the product side and not just sell the highest THC variants that pose proven health risks. That said, the principle of linking taxation to public health outcomes is forward-looking, and if implemented with clear guardrails, it could set Switzerland apart as a responsible regulator. We’ll need to see how stable and transparent the mechanism becomes in practice.”

However, with many operational details still open to interpretation, predictability remains a central concern for industry planning and investment.

“From a business perspective, a simpler excise tax is easier to model, plan, and invest around,” Richner added. 

“But from a societal perspective, a THC-based levy aligns better with harm reduction. Ideally, the system finds a middle ground: a clear, predictable framework that still incentivises lower-risk consumption. For us as businesses, the most important factor is stability and clarity, whichever model achieves that will be most welcomed.”

For the private sector, Switzerland’s evolving framework presents a complex but promising regulatory frontier. The proposed ban on vertical integration, which would prevent cultivators and manufacturers from also holding retail or online sales concessions, presents both a potential constraint and opportunity. “This approach certainly introduces complexity and may dampen efficiencies that vertical integration could have brought,” Richner continued. 

“For companies like ours, it means a clearer separation of roles and more partners to coordinate with. That said, it also creates opportunities for collaboration across the value chain, with each participant focusing on its strengths. “Our investment plans will need to adapt, but the industry is resilient, and we believe we can still build a system that works fairly for cultivators, processors, retailers, and consumers alike.”