For at least five years, over 3,000 adult cannabis consumers will participate in a regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot trial in the canton of St. Gallen, located in northeastern Switzerland. Pilot trials are already operating in multiple other jurisdictions in Switzerland and involve permitting consumers, producers, and retailers to engage in legal cannabis commerce at a local level.

“The study is being carried out in collaboration with the University of Zurich and the KOF Institute at the Swiss federal technology institute ETH Zurich, the Zurich-based Swiss Cannabis Research association said. The aim of this representative study is to establish a sound research basis for the regulated recreational use of cannabis in Switzerland.” wrote Swiss Info in its local coverage.

According to the Cannabis Research Association’s website, the pilot trial will provide participants with “safe, tested product quality” and will include home delivery. Products will include vapes, THC oil, infused gummies, and infused chocolates.

There are several required steps to participate in the multi-year study;

1. Registration
2. Admission interview
3. Complete a questionnaire
4. Assigned to a ‘willingness to pay’ study or a ‘long-term’ study
5. Make purchases
6. Complete online surveys

“After the registration process is complete, all participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: Group 1 will participate in both the willingness-to-pay study (Part 1) and the long-term study (Part 2). Group 2 will only participate in the long-term study (Part 2). The assignment is purely random and therefore cannot be influenced by you, the independent research team, or the association.” the association writes about the different components of the wider study.

“At the beginning of Part 2 of the pilot study, all participants from Group 1 who completed Part 1 of the study and all participants from Group 2 will again be randomly assigned by computer to one of three groups: Group A, Group B, or Group C. The assignment is purely random and therefore cannot be influenced by you, the independent research team, or the association.” the association continues. “Groups A and B can legally purchase cannabis from participating stores for the duration of the study. Group C does not have legal access to cannabis.”

Switzerland will forever be home to the first regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot trial. Pilot trials are a unique research-based approach to cannabis commerce regulation, with cannabis consumers, producers, and retailers signing up to participate in limited commerce activity to help lawmakers and regulators gather data and other information.

The first pilot trial was launched in January 2023 in Basel, Switzerland, and since that time, several other jurisdictions in Switzerland have launched their own pilot trials. The Netherlands also permits adult-use pilot trials. Switzerland’s pilot trials continue to succeed and provide meaningful benefits to the communities in which they operate.