The Swiss Parliament – the Federal Assembly made up of the National Council and the Council of States – decided on March 19, 2021 to change the law to make access to medical cannabis easier starting in 2022. This means thousands of patients who rely on medical cannabis for their treatment would have easier access to cannabis-based medicines. This would especially benefit people with cancer or multiple sclerosis (MS) who use cannabis medicines to help manage their chronic pain. Right now, getting cannabis medicines in Switzerland involves a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy. Since cannabis with more than 1% THC is considered an illegal narcotic here, it's completely banned from being traded. Cannabis with THC can't be grown, produced, imported, or sold. This ban also applies to medical cannabis, which can only be obtained with a special permit from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
In recent years, demand for cannabis medicines has grown so much that in 2019 alone, the FOPH had to issue almost 3,000 special permits. This creates a lot of administrative work and often delays treatment for those affected. Plus, according to the Federal Council, the large number of special permits no longer fits the idea of an "exception" as intended by the narcotics law. The change in the law is meant to let the government make better use of cannabis's potential for medical purposes. This would especially help sick people get cannabis medicines with as little bureaucracy as possible.
The law change means the ban on trading medical cannabis will be lifted. Cannabis for non-medical use will still be banned. Growing, processing, producing, and selling medical cannabis will be regulated and controlled by Swissmedic – just like other medically used narcotics (for example: cocaine, methadone, morphine). Also, you won't need a special permit from the FOPH anymore to get medical cannabis for treatment. This is meant to ensure doctors have the freedom to treat as they see fit, with only the responsible doctors in charge of the treatment.
On top of that, exporting medical cannabis for commercial purposes will be allowed, creating business opportunities for Swiss cannabis growers and producers of plant-based medicines. At the same time, growing medical cannabis will be made easier for farmers by adjusting the rules for seeds and plants. There's no need to change the law on medicines, since the safety and quality standards for making medical cannabis were already added to the Swiss Pharmacopoeia in 2019. The law change also includes a monitoring process to track how medical cannabis is prescribed and to collect data on its effects. So, doctors who prescribe it will have to send information about the treatments to the FOPH in the first years after the new rules take effect.
The cost of treatment with cannabis medicines will, as before, only be covered by mandatory health insurance in exceptional cases. However, the FOPH is reviewing whether there’s a need to change how costs are reimbursed. The law change is currently under review.
Source:
https://www.nau.ch/news/europa/in-der-schweiz-wird-cannabis-ab-2022-legal-verkauft-66048381
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