Cannabis for medical use is now legal in Switzerland.
This Wednesday, the Swiss Federal Council (the government) approved, in turn, the lifting of the ban on cannabis for medical use.
Patients will no longer need to ask the authorities for an exceptional authorization for its prescription.
Switzerland “intends to facilitate access to cannabis for medical use for patients,” the government said in a statement.
Parliament had already adopted the amendment to the law in March 2021.
It will come into effect on August 1.
The decision to use a cannabis-based medicine for therapeutic purposes will now rest with the doctor, in consultation with the patient.
The Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP) estimates that the new regulations will benefit thousands of people.
These include people with cancer or multiple sclerosis whose chronic pain can be relieved with drugs containing cannabis.
Patients previously had to obtain exceptional authorization from the FOPH to obtain a medical prescription, administrative procedures that delay treatment.
3,000 exceptional authorizations since 2019
But in recent years, the demand for cannabis-based treatments has risen sharply.
In 2019 alone, nearly 3,000 exceptional authorizations were issued, a situation that no longer reflects the exceptional nature provided for by the law on narcotics.
Cannabis is the most widely used illegal substance in Switzerland, according to the authorities.
More than a third of the population has already consumed it once.
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As a result of the adaptation of the law, the cultivation, processing, manufacture and trade of cannabis for medical use will be subject to the authorization and control system of the authorization and supervision authority for therapeutic products Swissmedic. , as is the case for other narcotics for medical use such as methadone or morphine.
However, the sale and consumption of cannabis for non-medical purposes remains prohibited.
