Switzerland lawmakers recently introduced a bill that will legalize recreational marijuana.
Intended to curb illegal market activity and establish a non-profit sales framework, the proposed legislation aims to put cannabis sales under a sales monopoly with products sold at licensed physical shops, along with one state-approved online shop.
“Switzerland has been testing medical and recreational schemes for over two years,” says Somai Pharmaceuticals’ CEO Michael Sassano. “The global markets in general are not pro-recreational, as this falls outside the 1971 Narcotics Act. Countries like Germany have proven that sensible open access medical markets combat the illicit markets very well. Switzerland’s current ideas and waffling has created more illicit use and less legal use. They would simply be better off opening medical access to all.”
Curbing Switzerland’s illegal market
While Swiss lawmakers aim to reduce the illegal cannabis market with this legalization bill, Sassano predicts it will do more harm than good.
“Look at California, Oregon, Oklahoma and Washington state,” he says. “Businesses have closed in massive numbers and illicit markets have grown significantly more than legal markets.”
Sassano explains that this is partly due to little oversight on the legalized markets, where local governments are handing out infinite licenses and implementing high taxes.
“The concept of ‘recreational’ isn’t the end result, and we can all agree that more access is good,” Sassano says. “The problem boils down to the actual implementation and framework.”
What happens now?
During the summer consultation period, an explanatory report will be released, according to Forbes, allowing stakeholders and affected parties to provide feedback on the draft.
If this bill becomes law, Switzerland will be the fourth European country to legalize recreational cannabis.
In 2023, Luxembourg legalized marijuana for personal use. A year later, Germany became the third country to legalize it for recreational use. On top of legalization, Germany also removed cannabis from controlled substances, easing access to its medical use and attracting foreign investment.
“Growers from around the world are exporting medical products, so the idea that Switzerland will close its market off to better and cheaper cannabis is not beneficial to consumers and will inadvertently drive illicit market sales,” notes Sassano. “The better path is like Germany, which removed the narcotics clarification and made it easy to get access.”
