In an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, Berset said that his department welcomes trying out "new models and directions" such as controlled cannabis trials, as long as the necessary special permits are sought. When asked whether such trials would open a back door for legalisation of the substance, Berset answered with a clear "no". "The Swiss people voted down a legalisation initiative in 2008, but they also accepted the new drug law, which allows for special permits for medical treatments or research projects." (See also: Kann die Cannabisabgabe funktionieren?)

The Swiss Council of States has adopted a bill allowing studies and pilot projects with cannabis. The Council is calling for an experimental article in the Narcotics Act that allows for scientific research projects such as coffeeshop model trials or pilot programs. Five cities have requested such studies. The bill will now be presented to the National Council. Until now, these applications have been rejected because there was no legal basis for such exceptions in the Swiss Narcotics Act. Between 200,000 and 300,000 people in Switzerland regularly consume cannabis. In most cantons, the possession of up to 10 grams is not punishedand public consumption is atoned for with a fine of 100 Swiss francs. (See also: Could medical cannabis be the next cash cow for Swiss farmers?)

The number of fines related to cannabis dropped from 18,000 in 2017 to barely more than 7,000 last year. French-speaking cantons and Zurich especially took a more lenient approach towards cannabis smokers with 70% fewer fines imposed. The reason for this massive decline is a 2017 Federal Court decision that ruled that "the mere possession of small quantities of drugs for consumption purposes" should not be punished. Even though consumption is still a punishable offence, the court’s decision has led to a change in police practice. The Association of Swiss Police Officers called for a greater say in cannabis policy.

Since 2011, the sale of cannabis products containing up to one percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the ingredient that makes users high – has been legal in Switzerland. These legal products won’t make you stoned but have proven hugely popular, especially in recent years. Tax revenues from legal cannabis as a tobacco alternative hit 15.1 million francs (€13.5 million) last year, up from just 400,000 three years earlier, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) told Swiss weekly SonntagsZeitung. Most smokers of the products are young, a survey from Addiction Switzerland suggests. Respondents touted the benefits of their active component cannabidiol (CBD), saying it helped with sleep problems and stress, while promoting well-being.

Switzerland’s National Council has approved a plan to start cannabis trials for recreational use. If it is to be legalised however, the government says it must be organic and grown locally. The study, which was approved by the National Council on Tuesday, hopes to find out more about the effects that a controlled legalisation of the drug would have in Switzerland. The decision to embark upon the trial was to be made in March but was delated due to the coronavirus pandemic. The experiments are to be carried out in Switzerland’s larger cities. Basel, Bern, Biel, Geneva and Zurich have all expressed interest in conducting the trials. (See also: Le National favorable aux tests de distribution de cannabis bio)

The lower house of Switzerland’s Federal Assembly approved a bill paving the way for a pilot research program that would permit the temporary production and distribution of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes. While an important milestone, the vote in early June is also symbolic of the sluggish pace at which recreational legalization is occurring in Europe. While approving the project, a majority of National Council legislators rejected proposals that would have limited the experiment’s size and scope – a sign that the lower house is committed to moving forward with the project. Now the Council of States will debate and vote on the bill. Local experts expect the project to be approved.

In September 2020, the Swiss parliament adopted a modification to the Federal Act on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances. The change provides a legal framework for a pilot project that would see legal and government-controlled supply initiatives established in 2021. The projects are expected to provide data on the use of cannabis by the Swiss and contribute to substantiating any potential future regulations. A few days after its passing, a complimentary parliamentary initiative was submitted by a member of the National Council (the lower house of the Swiss legislature). The initiative aims to flesh out a political response to the regulation of cannabis, proposing standards similar to those in place for alcohol.

Switzerland will start adult-use cannabis sales this summer amid a trial program that will involve 400 people. Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) authorized on April 19 the first pilot on the sale of cannabis for recreational use. The initiative is a joint project with the University of Basel and will take place in Basel, Switzerland's third-most-populous city. The study on the legal sale of adult-use cannabis aims to provide information to regulate cannabis in the whole country. In particular, the pilot is intended to provide information to consumers about low-risk consumption, knowledge on the effects of controlled access to cannabis, and information on consumers' behavior and physical and mental health.

Switzerland will draw up a draft law for the legalisation of cannabis usage, after a parliamentary commission ruled the drug should no longer be banned. The production, cultivation, trade and consumption of cannabis will no longer be banned after a commission investigating the drug said the laws should be changed, Swiss news outlet Blick reported on Tuesday. The Social Security and Health Commission of the Council of States (SGK-S) said cannabis should be regulated in order to control the “cannabis market for better youth and consumer protection”. The aim of the SGK-S is to eliminate the black market for the drug in Switzerland. A draft law will now be drawn up in Swiss parliament.

A solution to the drug and security problem in Belgium's bigger cities, such as Brussels and Antwerp, could be legalising the sale and use of cannabis, according to Federal Economy and Employment Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne. "When we talk about the drug problem in Belgium, a radical reform comes to mind: we have to consider the legalisation of cannabis," he said. "If you look at our neighbouring countries, three of the four have already done this today: the Netherlands, Luxembourg and recently Germany." For Dermagne, "it no longer makes sense" to keep asking the police to endlessly prosecute cannabis users and put them in prison. "This repression does not work." (See also: Belgium in Brief: Will we learn from our neighbours and decriminalise cannabis?)

The authorities are having talks with a leading bank with a view that it could offer services to non-profit organisations running cannabis associations, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told parliament. He was replying to a parliamentary question by Cressida Galea (PL). She noted that as from the end of this month, NGOs running the associations may apply for a licence to supply cannabis to their members. She asked if talks are being held with the banks to ensure that these NGOs do not end up having their banking services restricted because of the nature of their business. The minister in confirming the talks with a bank, said that talks will also be held with other banks in the coming week. 

In 2016, rates of marijuana use among the nation's 12- to 17-year-olds dropped to their lowest level in more than two decades, according federal survey data. Last year, 6.5 percent of adolescents used marijuana on a monthly basis, according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That represents a statistically significant drop from 2014, when the nation's first recreational marijuana shops opened in Washington state and Colorado. The last time monthly teen marijuana use was this low was 1994, according to the survey. The federal data show that adult marijuana use, on the other hand, is rising. (See also: Here's one marijuana trend you should actually be worried about)

Fewer young people are using marijuana now as compared to 2012, when the first states moved to legalize cannabis, according to a federally funded study. The 2018 Monitoring the Future survey found that annual, monthly and daily marijuana use remained lower among the nation’s 8th, 10th and 12th grade students compared to pre-legalization levels. Teens’ perceived availability of cannabis continued to decline in 2018 as well. Fewer adolescents are saying they perceive occasional or frequent cannabis use as harmful. Experts have long believed that lower perceptions of risk are correlated with more frequent use, but the data doesn’t seem to bear out those concerns. (See also: Teen marijuana use actually declined in Washington State after legalization, study finds)

As New Zealand prepares for a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis, surveys show opposite trends for cannabis use by adults and adolescents. Adult use of cannabis has risen sharply over the last few years, reflecting softening attitudes. But our study shows cannabis use in adolescents has been decreasing since 2001. It is important to understand what drives these trends to predict how legalisation could affect teen cannabis use. Our research shows the proportion of 14 to 15-year-olds reporting they had ever used cannabis fell from 19% in 2012 to 14% in 2018. Those who reported using in the past month fell from 10% to 8% over the same period. The recent changes are modest, but they follow substantial declines in cannabis use among high school students between 2001 and 2012.

Few individuals have as much influence on drug policy in the United States as Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), whose tenure at the head of the federal government’s top drug research institution started in 2003. In a new interview, Dr. Volkow came to admit that she was wrong about her expectations relating to the legalization of marijuana and that pro-legalization advocates were in the right. Ethan Nadelmann, founder of Drug Policy Alliance and pro-marijuana activist, challenged Volkow on his show. Volkow acquiesced, admitting, “I was expecting the use of marijuana among adolescents to go up, but overall, it hasn’t.”

Teenagers who use cannabis daily before the age of 17 are more than 60% less likely to complete high school or university, research published in Lancet Psychiatry found. The researchers called for their findings to be considered in cannabis legalisation reform. Alex Wodak of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation said the evidence for the harms of frequent use in the study was "compelling" but added daily use before age 17 would be "pretty uncommon". Many studies show that prohibiting cannabis did not make it any less easy for young people to get hold of it. (See also: How much pot does it take to turn a teenager into a suicidal dropout? | Linking cannabis and suicide doesn't prove causation | Cannabis use in teens, suicide and school dropout: the jury is still out)

While no psychoactive substance is completely harmless, modern science continues to prove that cannabis is one of the safer and more effective therapeutic agents available. Here’s a look back at some of the most significant marijuana-centric studies published over the past year. The cumulative use of cannabis by adolescents has no ill effect on intelligence, according to longitudinal data published in January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Investigators concluded: "In the largest longitudinal examination of marijuana use and IQ change,... we find little evidence to suggest that adolescent marijuana use has a direct effect on intellectual decline.”

A total of 31,177 people applied for the medical marijuana amnesty online during the 90-day registration period, which means the number of medical marijuana users in Thailand may exceed 50,000, says the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Disease Health Science Centre. However, Prof Thiravat Hemachudah, the head of the centre -- which assisted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the online amnesty registration process -- said patients will still have to contact the FDA to complete the process. Prof Thiravat said the Red Cross and the FDA never expected to receive so many queries and applications for an amnesty when the initiative was launched. (See also: Pot prescriptions possible by end of June)

El primer proyecto suizo sobre la venta legal de cannabis en farmacias comenzará el 15 de septiembre en el cantón de Basilea Ciudad. El número de participantes se limita a 370 y los usuarios de cáñamo mayores de 18 años pueden registrarse para tomar parte. Seis productos cannabinoides, cuatro tipos de flores de cannabis y dos tipos de hachís, se venderán en nueve farmacias. Los precios rondarán los que se cobran en el mercado negro de productos con contenido de THC. Por lo tanto, un gramo costará entre 8 y 12 francos. La medida, que se integra en proyecto de la Universidad de Basilea, sus clínicas psiquiátricas y el departamento de salud cantonal, fue aprobada en abril por la Oficina Federal de Salud Pública (OFSP).

En agosto de 2021 la Asociación Civil de Pueblos Unidos del Sur de Morelos en México, solicitó a la Comisión para la Protección Contra Riesgos Sanitaros del Estado permisos para sembrar mariguana de manera legal. Después de una serie de actos públicos, el 30 de septiembre le entregaron el Plan Tetecala de manera personal al presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador durante una visita a Jojutla, Morelos. El Plan Tetecala –al cual ya se adhirieron más de 200 personas de 10 estados– es una reivindicación del Plan de Ayala, redactado por Emiliano Zapata en 1911, pero centrado en el proceso de regulación nacional de la mariguana. (Véase también: Tetecala, el pueblo donde las abuelas cultivan cannabis | Plan Tetecala: En busca del derecho al libre cultivo del cannabis)