Officials of the city of Zurich declared on March 22 that cannabis use and sales would be partly permitted beginning in July. The Swiss Ministry of Health has now given its approval to a plan for such an experiment that has been in preparation for a number of years.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary active ingredient in marijuana, will be available for purchase and consumption for 2.1 thousand Zurich citizens within the experiment. Every six months, the experiment’s participants will be asked questions about their spending patterns, health, and other topics.

The data will be reviewed by the Swiss Ministry of Health and the researchers at the University of Zurich Psychiatric Clinic. At the conclusion of the three-and-a-half-year experiment, they will make judgments regarding the effect on people’s health, the fiscal benefit of such a step, and determine whether marijuana should be legalized in Switzerland as a whole.

The goal, according to the Zurich Ministry of Health, is to obtain trustworthy data based on actual experience to aid in the development of political decisions regarding new marijuana laws. Around 13,000 of Zurich’s 400,000 residents use marijuana frequently, claim Swiss authorities.

source: ft.com