COA explainer · Around the world
Switzerland: from licensed grower to pharmacy, what proves it is safe
Play it: a batch moves through a federally authorised pilot trial on the left, and each required piece of the sealed, plain pack snaps on at the right, color-coded by who adds it. Outside the eight trials, none of this applies to the cannabis most Swiss users buy.
Sample data · Switzerland (Narcotics Act Art. 8a pilot trials, BetmPV) · for illustrationPublished
🏷️ The product label, building live
Züri Haze · Pilot-trial flower
Cannabis Flower, sealed 5 g pack
Fictional sample label for illustration, not a compliant, printable label.
🌱 Licensed producer adds it📦 Producer's packaging line adds it🔬 Certified lab adds it🏪 Pharmacy or club adds it🏛️ FOPH / canton (always required)
The big idea: Switzerland runs four cannabis systems at once. An illegal street market that is never tested, a CBD market under 1% THC policed like food and tobacco, a medical track under Swissmedic, and eight federally authorised pilot trials where every gram is grown in Switzerland, organically as a rule, lab-screened, capped at 20% THC, sold in a sealed plain pack and logged against a participant's QR code. The pack with the trial's name on it is the one thing you can check yourself; the draft Cannabis Products Act that would extend this to everyone went back to committee in May 2026.
Sample label for illustration, not a compliant, printable label. Switzerland rules (Narcotics Act Art. 8a pilot trials, BetmPV, FOPH), current 2026. Educational, not legal advice.
Step by step: Switzerland
- Step 1: Swiss organic cultivation (Licensed producer) A producer licensed for one of the eight authorised pilot trials grows the batch in Switzerland, organically and to good agricultural and collection practice. Imports are allowed only if the FOPH accepts that Swiss supply cannot be assured.
- Step 2: Batch, potency, retention sample (Licensed producer) The producer is responsible for each batch's total THC, CBD and contaminant results, sampling by European Pharmacopoeia rules, and keeps a 250 g retention sample for three years so the canton can re-test it at any time. Total THC may not exceed 20%; oral units carry at most 10 mg.
- Step 3: Certified lab screen (Certified lab) A certified analytical laboratory checks the batch against the ordinance's annex: foreign matter, microbial contaminants, mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticides and solvent residues. The declared potency may deviate by up to 25% (unprocessed) or 15% (processed) from the result.
- Step 4: FOPH authorisation, cantonal control (FOPH / canton) The Federal Office of Public Health authorises the trial, funds the track-and-trace system, inspects and can revoke the licence; the canton names the control body for product quality and the commune approves each sales point. Extraordinary events must be reported immediately.
- Step 5: Sealed, plain pack (Producer (packaging)) The product is sealed (child-resistant if eaten or drunk) in neutral packaging: product name, weight, total THC and CBD in percent, the trial's name, a health warning, a dependence note, a driving warning, a lower-risk-use hint and the not-for-minors notice. Advertising is banned.
- Step 6: Sale to a registered participant (Pharmacy / club) A pharmacy, social club or specialist shop scans the participant's QR code (some trials also check ID): an adult resident of the trial canton who already used cannabis. At most 10 g per purchase and 10 g of THC per month, every gram logged, at a price that tracks the local black market.
Frequently asked questions
Who tests cannabis in Switzerland?
Only the eight federally authorised pilot trials test cannabis. The producer is responsible for each batch's total THC, CBD and contaminant results, which certified laboratories measure for foreign matter, microbials, mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticides and solvent residues, and cantonal control bodies can re-test the 250 gram retention sample. CBD products under 1 percent THC rest on the seller's self-control, medical cannabis on Swissmedic's system, and street cannabis is never tested.
Who pulls the sample in Switzerland?
There is no separate sampling firm in the Swiss pilot trials. The producer samples each batch following European Pharmacopoeia rules, sends it to a certified laboratory, and keeps a 250 gram retention sample for three years so the cantonal control body can test it again at any time. The Federal Office of Public Health authorises each trial, funds the track-and-trace system, inspects, and can revoke the licence.
What has to be on a cannabis label in Switzerland?
A pilot-trial pack must be sealed, child-resistant for edibles, and plain: product name, weight, total THC and CBD in percent, the trial's name, a health warning, a dependence note, a driving warning, a hint on lower-risk ways to use, and the notice that it may not be passed on or given to minors. Declared potency may deviate by up to 25 percent for unprocessed flower, and advertising is banned.
Is cannabis legal in Switzerland?
No. Cannabis with 1 percent THC or more is a narcotic; growing, producing and selling it are crimes, and consuming it costs an adult a CHF 100 fixed fine, with up to 10 grams treated as a minor quantity. Two exceptions exist: doctors have been able to prescribe medical cannabis without a federal exemption permit since August 2022, and eight federally authorised pilot trials may sell regulated cannabis to registered adult participants until 2031 at the latest.
Which Swiss cities have a legal cannabis pilot trial?
Basel (Weed Care), Zürich (Züri Can, plus the canton's Cannabis Research Zürich in six municipalities), Geneva (La Cannabinothèque in Vernier), Lausanne (Cann-L), Liestal and Allschwil in Basel-Landschaft (Grashaus Projects), Bern, Biel and Lucerne (SCRIPT), and five towns in the canton of St. Gallen (CanLeg, from 2026). Together they run about 56 sales points: pharmacies, social clubs, a drug information centre and specialist shops, some non-profit and some commercial.
Is CBD legal in Switzerland?
Yes, if the product contains less than 1 percent total THC. It is regulated as a food, cosmetic, tobacco product, chemical or medicine depending on how it is sold, health claims are not allowed, CBD flower and e-liquids can be sold as smoking products under the tobacco law since October 2024, and imported CBD needs a batch certificate of analysis from an accredited or GMP lab.
Keep reading
Educational information only, not medical advice. Terpene and cannabinoid effects are an active area of research and vary by person, product, and dose. Cannabis is for adults 21+ where legal.
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