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The cannabis pilot in Basel-Stadt

"The government will ultimately need to decide the way forward for Switzerland”

As we have seen in another article on MMJDaily, Switzerland has been conducting various cannabis pilot programs in its cantons. Today, we are focusing on the pilot taking place in Basel-Stadt.

A different kind of pilot
Unlike the one in Zurich, this pilot is more concerned with the effects of a regulated adult-use cannabis market on public health. "We are examining consumption habits and whether participants are using more or less cannabis products over time," says Lavinia Baltes, Deputy Director of Studies WeedCare. "In addition, we are evaluating the effect on addiction, mental health such as psychosis, depression, and so on." In other words, the pilot's main objective is to assess how regulated cannabis sales affect user behavior. Specifically, it explores whether selling regulated cannabis at designated pharmacies results in a decrease in unhealthy cannabis use among participants.

In total, approximately 400 people from different demographics have joined the trial. "Initially, we had two groups in this trial," Lavinia explains. "One had access to cannabis sold through pharmacies, while the other group had no access." This setup lasted for the first six months. After that, the second group was also allowed to access the legal product.

Of course, to participate in such a pilot, certain criteria had to be met. "Participants had to be over 18 years of age," Lavinia points out. "We have a range of participants from 18 to 76 years old, with the average age being around 36." While there's a broad range of ages, the same can't be said about sex. Indeed, 80% of the participants are male, and 20% are female.

Unlike the Zurich pilot, the one in Basel-Stadt has only one grower. "They are only allowed to grow outdoors or in greenhouses, not indoors, and cultivation must be organic," just as in the Zurich pilot. Because of this, Lavinia notes that the grower must perform extensive quality checks and adhere to high standards This was also why the pilot started later than expected, as quality concerns had to be addressed first by the grower. "We had to postpone our start," Lavinia says.

How it's going
While the pilot is still going strong, 18% of the participants have dropped out, but that's not necessarily bad news. Quite the opposite, in fact. "We are happy that many are still involved," Lavinia says. "They are satisfied with the quality of the products, though they wish there was more variety in terms of flowers and hash. Participants have also expressed interest in oils and e-joints. This is something we'll need to consider." At the same time, obtaining cannabis from the illicit market remains a common practice. "We've noticed that around half of the participants are still sourcing some cannabis from the illicit market. This is a problem because we can't really tell them not to do it. The reason may be that we don't offer the products they want," Lavinia says. One reason could be that cannabis products in the pilot cannot exceed 20% THC.

So, overall, is this pilot a success? "The fact that we have so many participants is already a success," Lavinia says. "That was the first condition for us to consider this a success. After a year and a half, we still have a good number of participants. From a public health perspective, we'd like to promote less risky forms of consumption, such as vaping, or products with lower THC levels. However, this clashes with reality, as THC-rich products remain the most in demand."

What lies ahead
As mentioned, the goal of this pilot differs from Zurich's. "Our role is to provide data that can serve as the basis for political discussions about future cannabis regulation in Switzerland. We are focusing on public health-oriented cannabis regulation. The next challenge for Switzerland will be determining what kind of regulation will govern the local cannabis market. Will the current cannabis prohibition be continued or will a more public health-oriented or free market-oriented regulation be introduced? The government will ultimately need to decide the way forward for Switzerland."

For more information:
WeedCare
[email protected]
weedcare-basel.ch