Switzerland could be a step closer to legalising cannabis for non-medical use after a parliamentary health commission voted 14 versus 9 in favour of a draft bill on the subject, reported RTS.
Currently, the cultivation, sale and consumption of cannabis for non-medical use is a fineable offence in Switzerland. Since 2023, there have been short term trials allowing people to buy and consume it legally. However, for the majority of users purchase and consumption has remained illegal.
On 14 February 2025, a parliamentary health commission said that it considered the current system of prohibition to be flawed. A majority of commission’s members believes strictly regulated and controlled selling of cannabis would better protect public health, young people and raise safety. The public would be better protected against the harmful effects of the substance and young people would be deterred from consumming it with such a system, it said.
The commission recommends a new legal framework that continues to classify cannabis as a harmful narcotic. The law would regulate cultivation, production and sales. Products containing cannabis would be taxed based on their level of THC to discourage consumption in line with the health risks. Sales to minors would be illegal. Advertising of any kind would be illegal, including the advertising of seeds and paraphernalia.
Commercial production would be allowed under strict rules and points of sale would be limited and operated as non-profit concessions.
Adults (older than 18) would be allowed to grow a maximum of three plants provided they are for their own personal consumption.
Not everyone on the commission thought legalisation was a good idea however. A minority viewed it as a very bad signal. If cannabis is legalised, the public, young people especially, will come to see the substance as banal, which will encourage its use.
The subject will now shift to a government consultation, which will happen after summer.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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