Cannabis in shop in Lausanne. In just one month, sales decreased by 5%

2024-01-14 03:19:00

(Time.news) – One month of legal cannabis sales in the only shop open in Lausanne, Switzerland, was enough to make reduce sales by 5%. This was what he told the Swiss broadcaster RSI Frank Zobeldeputy director of Addiction Suisse, an NGO for prevention, research and help with addictions, evaluating the results of the first shop in the canton of Vaud where, since December, cannabis and its derivatives have been legally on sale. An initiative that falls within the pilot project “Cann-L” (launched in 2022) for the purpose of evaluate the effects of a non-profit controlled sales modelboth in terms of health and safety.

Cannabis pilot project: Development presents in preview Cann-L, the project of the City of Lausanne with Addiction Suisse >>

— Addiction Suisse (@AddictionSuisse) December 14, 2023

According to the data released in the local media, therefore, it can be said that the project has already produced satisfactory results: the shop in Lausanne, a city with around 140 thousand inhabitants, opened not by chance in a neighborhood with a lot of drug dealing, has already sold 4.5 kg of cannabis to 320 people. “We think we have taken 5% out of the black market,” said Zobel, underlining the success of the initiative among project participants.

Another 600 adults, according to what he announced, have already contacted the NGO to ask to be able to enter the pilot project so far cost the equivalent of around 1.7 million euros.

The project, in full swing in the capital of Vaud, given these results, could be quickly replicated in other areas such as Basel, Zurich which are experimenting with the model of legal sales in pharmacies, and Geneva, another city which has joined the project pilot.

© AFP

Lausanne, Switzerland

The sale of hemp and derivatives has long been authorized in Switzerland – Addiction Suisse specifies – but only with a level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) less than 1%. The ‘plus’ of the project would not only be to put an end to the phenomenon of drug dealing, but also to monitor and occasionally evaluate the population that uses narcotic substances.

Needless to say, the ‘Swiss experiment’ has also aroused interest in other European countries. But, for the record, the Swiss plantations that supply the shop with ‘raw materials’ remain covered by the most total secrecy of the authorities: it is absolutely unknown where and how many people are employed in the cultivation and, moreover, by contract they cannot reveal any details about their work activity, not even within their families.

“The hemp sold freely in shops will in any case be organic and locally sourced – explains Addiction Suisse – Only people of legal age who have smoked hemp for more than six months will be able to purchase it for recreational purposes. It is also It is forbidden to consume it on public land and, above all, to resell it.”

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