CanPG: what changes for clubs, producers, patients, pharmacies and cantons

The starting point in one paragraph

The Cannabis Products Act (CanPG) aims to move the handling of THC cannabis out of criminal law and into a licensing system. What the law provides for in detail and what the timeline looks like is explained in our overview CanPG Switzerland explained. Here we address the consequences: who gains room to manoeuvre, who takes on new obligations – and what does that mean in concrete terms for club members?

Cannabis Social Clubs: three scenarios

Scenario A – liberal model: clubs receive their own licensing category with dispensing to verified members, quantity caps and reporting obligations. Shipping to members is permitted with age verification on delivery. This is the most efficient model and leads to the lowest end prices.

Scenario B – hybrid model: ordering and payment online, handover mandatorily physical with ID verification. Clubs operate their own pickup stations or use partner locations. Effort increases moderately, price levels stay close to the liberal model.

Scenario C – strict model: dispensing exclusively through licensed specialty shops or pharmacies; pure online shops for THC are prohibited. Clubs then act as producer, procurer and member organisation, and collaborate with licensed partners for dispensing.

In all three scenarios the club's function remains identical: members pool their demand, the club produces or procures at wholesale conditions and passes these conditions on. Only the point at which the goods change hands changes.

CannabisClub.ch's adaptation strategy

We are not planning for one preferred scenario, but for all three. For Scenarios B and C we are preparing two dispensing routes.

Pickup stations: licensed, monitored handover points with ID verification, batch documentation and fixed opening hours. Members order digitally, receive a pickup code and identify themselves on site. Launch in urban agglomerations, then expansion following member density.

Pharmacy cooperation: collaboration with a pharmacy chain that already handles age verification, advice, storage and documentation professionally. For members this means short travel distances and long opening hours; for the legislator it means maximum control at the dispensing point.

Neither option changes the pricing logic. The club remains producer and procurer, member conditions remain wholesale conditions. A pharmacy partner provides a dispensing service – it does not become an additional middleman with its own trading margin on our products.

Become a member for free now – ready for THC from day one at wholesale prices. Registration takes two minutes, is free, and new members receive 2g of the best Swiss indoor CBD flower for free.

Producers: planning security versus compliance

For Swiss producers, the CanPG is the first genuine investment basis in years. Whoever obtains a licence can plan growing space, staff and genetics for the longer term instead of operating at the fringe of legality.

The price for this is obligations: quality management, traceability of every batch, laboratory analyses, security and access-control concepts, reporting systems and regular inspections. These costs are largely fixed – small operations are hit relatively harder than large ones.

Realistic consequence: consolidation. Operations that already document cleanly today, have their products analysed and produce indoors under controlled conditions have an advantage. CannabisClub.ch produces under licence in Sarnen and works with Swiss genetics – quality assurance and batch documentation are everyday practice for us, not a project.

Second effect: price becomes a competitive factor. Whoever keeps the chain short can absorb regulatory costs without passing them fully on to the end price. That is exactly what our model is designed for.

Patients: the prescription route remains, choice grows

Medical cannabis has been legal on prescription since 2022 and is not abolished by the CanPG. Anyone with a medical indication stays on the prescription route – including medical supervision, dose adjustment and the possibility of cost coverage in individual cases.

What improves: availability and choice. A regulated market increases the supply of standardised strains and dosage forms and tends to lower prices, because more production flows into the legal channel.

What calls for caution: legal recreational access does not replace therapy. In cases of chronic pain, spasticity, sleep disorders of clinical significance or mental illness, use should be medically supervised. Our overview on medical cannabis and health insurance puts this into context.

For patients without a prescription who currently turn to the black market, the regulated channel is the biggest improvement: tested values, consistent batches, no criminal liability.

Pharmacies: from exception to possible rule

Pharmacies already dispense medical cannabis today. In the CanPG context, they come into play as a dispensing point for regulated products – especially in strict scenarios where professional advice and age verification are required at the point of sale.

For pharmacies this means additional revenue, but also storage, security requirements, training and documentation. Whether a pharmacy participates will be both a business and a professional-ethics decision.

For us, the pharmacy is the most obvious partner should direct shipping fall away: the infrastructure for controlled dispensing already exists, public trust is high, and the density of locations in Switzerland is excellent.

Cantons: the underestimated factor

As with alcohol and tobacco, the cantons are likely to play a major role in enforcement: licensing of sales points, location requirements, opening hours, controls, and possibly cantonal levies.

A patchwork is realistic – urban cantons tending to be more accessible, rural ones more restrictive. This explains why a nationally organised club with several dispensing routes is more robust than a model that relies on a single channel type.

You can find our cantonal overviews of the current legal situation in the Cantons Hub – we document differences in practice and fining policy there on an ongoing basis.

Why existing members stay ahead

Every licensing system requires identification, proof of age and traceability of dispensing. Existing members have already completed exactly these steps.

When legal sales start, a demand spike will occur. Quotas, production cycles and licences will limit available quantities in the initial phase. Whoever is already a member and verified will be prioritised in allocation – that is what "THC from day one" means.

On top of that comes price: members buy at wholesale conditions, not retail prices. This promise holds under any regulatory framework – online, at the pickup station or via a pharmacy partner.

Become a member for free now – ready for THC from day one at wholesale prices. Registration takes two minutes, is free, and new members receive 2g of the best Swiss indoor CBD flower for free.

From a business perspective: what a channel switch really costs

A switch from shipping to physical dispensing shifts costs, it does not double them. Packaging and shipping costs per order fall away; rent, staff and security at pickup points are added. Net, we expect a difference in the low single-digit franc range per order – depending on order size.

With a pharmacy cooperation the picture shifts again: the infrastructure already exists, we pay for a dispensing service instead of our own location costs. The contract structure is decisive. We are aiming for a service fee, not a trading margin on the product – only this keeps the member price stable.

For members this means: the channel affects convenience and waiting time, not the price level. Whoever becomes a member today secures the conditions regardless of which model applies in 2029.

Risks we name openly

First risk: rationing. If too few cultivation or dispensing licences are granted, scarcity results. Response: our own licensed production in Sarnen and an early licence application.

Second risk: cantonal inequality. In restrictive cantons, pickup stations could be hard to get licensed. Response: pharmacy partners as a second channel, because pharmacies already have licensed dispensing structures in place.

Third risk: delay. If a referendum occurs, everything shifts by months to over a year. Response: we keep building our member base and CBD business independently of that – THC capability is an expansion step, not a condition of existence.

Fourth risk: stricter advertising and communication rules. Response: we already communicate informatively rather than promotionally today – knowledge content instead of consumption incentives.

Comparison of member procurement routes

Shipping: maximum convenience, lowest process costs, age verification on delivery. Available if the legislator allows direct shipping.

Pickup station: digital ordering, physical handover with ID verification. Highest compatibility with strict youth-protection requirements, while retaining full control over range and price.

Pharmacy partner: dense location coverage, long opening hours, professional advice included. Ideal in cantons with a restrictive licensing practice for new sales points.

In all three variants the same member promise applies: tested Swiss quality at wholesale conditions, prioritised for existing, verified members.

Effects on patients

Medical cannabis has been prescribable since 2022, but cost coverage by basic insurance remains the exception. For many affected people, the medical route is therefore effectively a self-pay model, with pharmacy prices of 12 to over 20 francs per gram.

A regulated adult market changes this indirectly, but noticeably: where standardised flower is available legally and at lower cost, the pressure to resort to expensive prescription routes or the black market decreases. At the same time, the medical channel remains important for indications requiring supervision, documentation and dose adjustment.

Our position: we do not replace any therapy and do not give medical recommendations. We ensure that tested Swiss quality does not fail on price – and consistently refer medical questions to professionals.

Effects on producers and supply chains

For producers, the CanPG marks the transition from a niche market with CBD overproduction to a regulated market subject to licensing. Whoever already runs GACP-adjacent processes, batch analytics and security infrastructure today has a multi-year head start.

Requirements can be expected regarding cultivation security, access control, video surveillance, inventory reconciliation and destruction protocols. This raises fixed costs – and favours operations with sufficient capacity utilisation.

As a licensed THC producer with an indoor facility in Sarnen, we are building out exactly this structure. The effect for members is direct: every stage we cover ourselves is a margin that does not land on the price.

Effects on cantons and enforcement

The cantons will grant licences, monitor and sanction. Experience from the pilot projects shows how different practice can turn out – from actively supportive to reserved.

For a nationally active member model this means: two channels are better than one. Where pickup stations are difficult, we work with pharmacies; where shipping is allowed, we use it. This redundancy is the core of our adaptation strategy.

Effects on clubs and member organisations in detail

For clubs, the CanPG decides the form of existence. Three licensing layers can be expected: one for cultivation, one for processing and packaging, and one for dispensing to end consumers. Whoever holds all three layers controls the cost chain – whoever only dispenses is a price-taker.

That is precisely why we invested early in our own production. CannabisClub.ch is a licensed THC producer with an indoor facility in Sarnen. The flower our members will receive in the future is meant to come from the same facility our tested CBD batches come from today – same genetics selection, same analytics, same documentation.

The second fork concerns legal form. Whether the law will allow commercial providers, non-profit structures or both remains open. Our model works in both worlds, because the membership fee and the product price are calculated separately: the price covers production, analytics, compliance and dispensing – not third-party trading margins.

The third fork is quantity management. If a monthly cap per person is introduced, a system is needed that consolidates purchases across all channels. A membership model with verified accounts meets this requirement almost automatically on a technical level, while anonymous shop sales would need to build new infrastructure for it.

What changes concretely for existing members

For existing members, access changes, not the principle. Anyone already verified today will not need to go through a new onboarding process when regulated THC sales start – age, identity and residence are already checked and documented.

In practice this means: at launch, prioritisation applies by membership date. Since we expect limited quotas in the initial phase – licences are granted in stages, production capacity grows gradually – the order is not a marketing promise but an operational necessity.

Second, the pricing logic stays the same: members buy at wholesale conditions because they are not customers of a trading chain, but part of the organisation that produces. Third, product information remains just as detailed: strain, cannabinoid profile, harvest date, batch number, analysis report.

And fourth, the separation stays clean: until the CanPG is in force, everything we supply is CBD below the 1 percent limit. THC is added once it is legal – not before.

Effects on pharmacies and specialty shops

Pharmacies are the quiet winners of any restrictive distribution variant. They have licensed dispensing structures, trained professional staff, everyday age verification and dense location coverage across all language regions.

If the CanPG excludes pure online shops for THC, a cooperation with a pharmacy chain is our fastest route to full coverage. The model: ordering and advice run through the club, physical handover happens at the pharmacy against ID. We pay a defined dispensing service fee for this – deliberately no trading margin on the product, so the member price stays stable.

For specialised shops, the CanPG brings both opportunities and risks. The opportunity is a legal adult market with clear rules. The risk is fixed costs: security requirements, staff training, documentation obligations and advertising bans hit small locations harder than organisations with production volume behind them.

Effects on consumers without membership

Whoever is not registered at market launch goes through the full process: identity verification, age check, proof of residence, and possibly waiting times in case of limited supply. This is not a disadvantage in principle, but the consequence of a staggered market opening with limited quotas.

A regionally uneven supply in the first months is also realistic. Cantons with restrictive licensing practices will launch later and with fewer dispensing points than cities that have already accompanied pilot projects.

That's why free membership today is above all an option for tomorrow: verification done, prioritisation secured, wholesale conditions promised – and until then, access to tested Swiss CBD flower.

Timing of the effects

In the short term, i.e. 2026 to 2027, little happens operationally: consultation, political positioning, building of licensing dossiers. Whoever invests now does so in advance.

In the medium term, 2028 to 2029, the market gets decided. Ordinances define requirements, cantons issue first licences, production capacities are ramped up. It is in this phase that market shares form which will later be hard to shift.

In the long term, from 2030 onward, the market normalises: prices fall, ranges differentiate, the black-market share declines – provided the overall burden from tax and compliance stays moderate.

Our preparation follows this timeline: today production and member base, tomorrow licences and channels, then scaling the range.

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