Cannabis in Switzerland: laws and regulation on CBD and cannabis

Switzerland and cannabis: a complicated relationship with a bright future

When it comes to cannabis, Switzerland made headlines around the world when, in 2011, it became the first European country to raise the THC limit in flower and products to one per cent.

Other countries are now starting to follow its lead, but the Swiss are once again a step ahead with another recreational cannabis pilot project, the first of its kind in Europe, which began in Basel in January 2023.

How progressive is the cannabis movement in Switzerland?

Compared with other European countries, Switzerland has always had one of the most liberal attitudes towards cannabis and its users. In 2012, simple possession of small amounts of cannabis was decriminalised, and some cantons allowed citizens to grow and process cannabis for personal use.

However, this initiative quickly came to an end after the federal court stepped in. Even so, cannabis has always been popular with the Swiss, with an estimated half a million users out of some 8.5 million inhabitants.

Legal status of medical cannabis in Switzerland

As for the medical use of cannabis, Swiss doctors have been allowed to prescribe medical cannabis to their patients since 2011, making Switzerland one of the first countries in Europe to do so. Until August 2022, prescribing it required special authorisation from the Federal Office of Public Health, and the products available are so expensive that only a handful of patients can afford them, while many more prefer to buy their medicine on the black market. That is why cannabis patient organisations and even some doctors are still calling for reforms to make this medicinal herb more accessible.

The CBD market in Switzerland: the CBD boom

In 2011, the cannabis landscape in Switzerland changed dramatically when all cannabis with less than 1% THC was legalised (in the rest of Europe, the legal THC limit remains at 0.3%, with the exception of 0.6% in Italy and, since 2022, 1% in the Czech Republic).

In Switzerland, it is legal to produce, import and sell cannabis with a THC content below 1% for recreational use, without it being classed as a narcotic.

As we know, when strains with 1% THC are grown, the content of CBD or cannabidiol and other (minor) cannabinoids can be much higher than in hemp strains with 0.3% THC. The same goes for the terpene profile, which can be much richer, meaning that the flower and extracts have a far better aroma and flavour.

In Switzerland, cannabis strains containing less than 1% THC are legal (regardless of their CBD content). In most European countries, the legal THC limit is 0.3%.

The 1% legal THC limit sparked a huge CBD boom in Switzerland, with hundreds of growers and thousands of sellers of CBD-rich cannabis with up to 20% CBD and less than 1% THC (and products made from these extracts).

Cannabis enthusiasts in other European countries such as Spain, France, Germany, Italy or the United Kingdom could only envy their Swiss counterparts.

Cannabis strains with 1% THC can contain much more CBD and other minor cannabinoids, as well as a richer terpene profile, than hemp strains containing less than 0.3% THC.

Swiss growers and distributors produced high-quality buds and not only thrived on the domestic market, but also managed to get their CBD-rich flower into other countries by washing out most of the THC, while keeping the other active compounds inside the plant material. Because even that washed cannabis flower still contained far more CBD and terpenes than the traditional hemp strains grown and sold in other European countries.

The Swiss legal limit of 1% THC made it possible to produce flower and extracts with an extraordinary aroma and flavour. This sparked a CBD boom in Switzerland, which is one of Europe's leading producers of CBD hemp.

Then came 2022, with rising electricity prices and the raising of the THC limit to 1% in the Czech Republic. More and more competition kept emerging, including from Italy, with its 0.6% THC limit and its climate, which makes it possible to produce incredible CBD flower outdoors too, not just indoors.

The result was that the price of cannabis flower started to fall while the cost of producing indoor flower kept rising, pushing many Swiss CBD flower growers out of business. And so the CBD boom in Switzerland came to an end and the market began to settle down.

Weed Care: Switzerland's recreational pilot programme

But what about cannabis with more than 1% THC? In 2022, Switzerland made headlines in the cannabis world once again when it announced the launch of a pilot project in Basel with a strictly limited regulated market. The project is called Weed Care and includes fewer than 400 participants from Switzerland's third-largest city, who will be able to buy cannabis legally from local pharmacies.

The launch of the project was delayed by some problems with product quality, but according to the press release from the producer Pure Holding, sales would begin at the end of January: “Regulated dispensing of cannabis in Basel pharmacies can begin at the end of January 2023.

The Basel trial for the regulated sale of cannabis products in selected pharmacies has received renewed approval from the Federal Office of Public Health for new products following the delayed launch. Six organically produced Swiss products will be used.”

Since then, similar trials have been launched in other Swiss cities such as Zurich, Bern, Lausanne and Geneva, and in 2025 a parliamentary committee put forward a bill to regulate recreational cannabis nationwide, which is still making its way through Parliament.