Cannabis over the pharmacy counter: how Switzerland is researching dispensing

In Switzerland, cannabis is slowly migrating from the black market to an unfamiliar place: the pharmacy counter. What seemed unthinkable a few years ago is today a reality in several cities — though strictly regulated, scientifically monitored and only for registered study participants. The pharmacy thereby becomes a controlled point of dispensing and a source of counselling at the same time. A look at the ongoing pilot trials, the participating pharmacies and the question of where interested people can still take part.

The legal basis: an experimentation article, not release

The starting point is an amendment to the Narcotics Act that came into force in May 2021. It created the so-called experimentation article: the possibility of dispensing cannabis for non-medical purposes in a controlled manner within pilot trials limited in time and place. The aim is expressly not legalisation but the gathering of scientific data. On that basis, parliament is later to decide in an informed way what a possible future regulation might look like.

Seven authorised pilot projects have been running on this basis since 2023 — in Basel-Stadt, Bern, Biel, Lausanne, Lucerne, Vernier and Zurich, among others, as well as in further municipalities in the cantons of Zurich and Basel-Landschaft. According to figures from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), around 10,400 adults were taking part as of June 2025. The models range from pharmacies through non-profit social clubs to a drug information centre. The pharmacy-based models deliberately rely on prevention, harm reduction and personal counselling.

“Züri Can”: the largest project — and its pharmacies

The most extensive undertaking is “Züri Can – Cannabis mit Verantwortung”, run by the City of Zurich and the University of Zurich. Sales started in late summer 2023; after an extension the study now runs until October 2028. Participants can obtain their study cannabis at around twenty collection points — including ten pharmacies, nine social clubs and the drug information centre (DIZ).

The conditions are tightly drawn: THC-containing cannabis flowers and resin are available at prices between roughly 36 and 48 francs per five grams. Each person may obtain a maximum of ten grams of pure THC per month. Anyone taking part commits to a single collection point and cannot change it afterwards. Regular surveys on consumption and health are part of the study design.

The participating pharmacies include — among others — the Stauffacher Apotheke (district 4), the Medbase Apotheke Zürich Wiedikon (district 3), the Apotheke zum Meierhof in Höngg (district 10), the Bahnhof Apotheke Oerlikon (district 11) and the TopPharm Apotheke Paradeplatz (district 1). The complete, continuously updated list of all collection points is maintained by the City of Zurich on its official “Züri Can” page, where interested people will also find the exact addresses and opening hours.

Where are places still available?

The most important practical question is capacity. Under the FOPH authorisation of September 2025, each participating pharmacy may look after up to 130 study participants. As long as not all places are taken, people can still join after the start — within the first two years after sales began, with the individual period of supply shortening accordingly.

One concrete example is the Stauffacher Apotheke: it actively informs about the pilot project on its own project page and recruits new participants — a clear indication that places are still available there. Since occupancy changes continuously, the direct route is worthwhile for anyone interested: the most reliable way to learn current availability is from the pharmacy itself or through the City of Zurich’s central information service (info-cannabis@zuerich.ch). Participation is open to adults resident in the City of Zurich who already consume cannabis.

The procedure is deliberately low-threshold and nevertheless controlled: after registration, proof of identity and residence and a short introduction, participants gain access to the range of their chosen collection point. The pharmacy documents the withdrawals, watches the monthly THC ceiling and remains the point of contact for questions about effects, interactions or reducing consumption. For many pharmacies this is a new field of activity — and a chance to sharpen their role as a low-threshold health contact point.

“SCRIPT”: the randomised counterpart in German-speaking Switzerland

Scientifically particularly ambitious is the SCRIPT study (“The Safer Cannabis – Research In Pharmacies randomized controlled Trial”) run by the universities of Bern and Lucerne. It is running in Bern, Biel and Lucerne with around a thousand participants and has — like “Züri Can” — been extended to October 2028.

What is special is the study design: by random allocation, only half the participants may buy regulated cannabis in selected pharmacies during the first six months; the other half gain access only afterwards. This waiting-list comparison allows more robust statements about the actual effects of legal dispensing. The range comprises flowers, hashish, e-liquids and tinctures; trained staff also advise where needed on lower-risk consumption or on quitting smoking — classic pharmacy competence applied to a new field.

What the first evaluations show

The interim assessments so far are soberly positive. The FOPH and the participating universities report that the legal, controlled dispensing of cannabis has no negative effect on the physical and mental health of consumers. The City of Zurich publicly drew a positive interim conclusion — a key reason for the extension to 2028. An analysis by the FHNW likewise classifies the projects as a valuable data source for future policymaking.

The distinction from medical cannabis is important: that follows its own route via medical prescription and is increasingly dispensed through pharmacies in the regular way — a market that has grown noticeably since the requirement for authorisation was dropped. The pilot trials, by contrast, concern non-medical recreational use. For pharmacists the two worlds nevertheless blur in everyday practice, because both demand the same core competences: quality assurance, knowledge of dosing and counselling that informs rather than moralises.

A look across the border

How relevant such data is becomes clear in comparison with Germany, where partial legalisation has applied since 2024. The EKOCAN research consortium presented its second interim report on the evaluation of the recreational cannabis act in April 2026. Its central findings: the prevalence of consumption among young people remained stable to slightly declining, and no significant change was seen among adults either. A growing — if still small — proportion of the cannabis consumed now comes from legal sources. The researchers are critical, however, of the way the cannabis social clubs have been shaped, and of a decline in early addiction-prevention interventions among young people.

This is precisely where the strength of the Swiss pharmacy model lies: it couples dispensing with professional counselling, age control and prevention — elements that a purely club- or shop-based model does not guarantee. Whether a permanent regulation will one day grow out of this is for politics to decide. The data basis for it is being created day by day at counters from Zurich to Lucerne — and the pharmacy plays a load-bearing role in that.