The Cannabis Products Act (CanPG) – where things stand in Switzerland

What is the Cannabis Products Act (CanPG)?

The CanPG is a planned standalone federal law for cannabis products with a THC content above today's limit of 1%. It aims to take the handling of cannabis out of the Narcotics Act (BetmG) and move it into a framework comparable to tobacco and alcohol law: anyone who produces, processes or sells needs a licence and is subject to controls.

The starting point is the parliamentary initiative "Regulating cannabis products" (20.473). The responsible Social Security and Health Committee of the National Council (SGK-N) has drawn up a draft bill on this basis that brings together cultivation, production, trade, supply, advertising, youth protection and taxation in a single piece of legislation.

The purpose is explicitly not a free market but a controlled one: legal access for adults, verified product quality, consistent youth protection, and drying up the black market. Consumption itself is not meant to be promoted – advertising, sponsorship and aggressive sales promotion are heavily restricted in the draft bill.

Important for context: as long as the CanPG is not in force, current law continues to apply. THC cannabis above 1% remains illegal outside of prescriptions and pilot projects. Everything on this page regarding future rules is a scenario based on the draft bill and the ongoing political debate – not currently applicable regulation.

CanPG vs. the Narcotics Act (BetmG): the real system change

The Narcotics Act (BetmG) is a prohibition law. Cannabis with more than 1% total THC is classified as a banned narcotic; only narrowly defined exceptions are permitted, such as medical cannabis on prescription or the scientifically accompanied pilot projects under Art. 8a BetmG.

The CanPG reverses this logic: handling cannabis is not banned and occasionally permitted – it is permitted, but only within a licensing system with clear conditions. Regulation thereby shifts from criminal law towards product, health and market oversight.

In practice this means: traceability from seed to sale, laboratory analysis and declared cannabinoid values, packaging requirements without lifestyle marketing, an age limit of 18, supply quantities limited per person and time period, and oversight by the federal government and the cantons.

For serious Swiss producers this is an advantage: anyone who already produces to GACP-like standards today, documents cleanly and has batches analysed already fulfils a large part of the future requirements. CannabisClub.ch is a licensed THC producer with its own indoor production in Sarnen – for us, the transition mainly concerns distribution and documentation, not building a production operation from scratch.

Status mid-2026: what is settled and what remains open

The direction is settled. A draft bill exists, the consultation process has produced feedback from cantons, parties, health organisations and the industry, and the committee is finalising the proposal for parliamentary deliberation. The political majority in favour of "regulate instead of ban" has been confirmed several times in committee.

What remains open is the detailed design. Contested points include in particular: the amount and model of taxation, THC ceilings for individual product categories, the role of cannabis social clubs, cantonal leeway regarding points of sale, and the permitted distribution channels – this also raises the question of whether pure online shops for THC products will be allowed.

The timing also remains open. After committee work follow the National Council and the Council of States, elimination of differences, the final vote, and the 100-day referendum period. If a referendum comes about, the electorate decides. Only afterwards follow the ordinances, licensing procedures and the actual market launch.

Anyone reading claims today such as "legal purchase possible from next year" should remain sceptical. A staggered start between 2028 and 2030 is realistic – with the possibility that individual elements (such as expanded pilot projects or adjustments to medical access) arrive earlier.

The central building blocks of the draft bill

Licensing requirement: cultivation, processing, import, wholesale trade and supply are to become subject to licensing. Licences are tied to conditions – security concept, quality assurance, traceability, staff training and reporting obligations.

Product and consumer protection: declaration of THC and CBD content, limit values for pesticides and heavy metals, child-proof and neutral packaging, package inserts on risks and interactions.

Youth protection: supply exclusively to persons aged 18 and over with age verification, an advertising ban, no sale near schools, no discount promotions or quantity incentives.

Quantity limits: a cap per person and month is one of the most likely instruments to limit resale and cross-border trade.

Taxes and levies: an incentive or consumption levy is envisaged. Earmarking these revenues – for prevention, addiction support, enforcement – is a central argument for political acceptance. Details in our scenario article on taxation.

Enforcement: the federal government and the cantons share oversight. Cantons are likely to gain leeway over locations, opening hours and controls – which can lead to regionally different sales models.

Expected timeline – a sober look

2026: processing the consultation results, fine-tuning the proposal, dispatch and committee report. In parallel, the existing pilot projects continue, delivering data on consumption behaviour, prices and youth protection.

2027: deliberation in the National Council and Council of States, elimination of differences, final vote. This is the year in which it is decided how strictly the distribution channels will be framed – including the online question.

2027/2028: referendum period and, if applicable, a popular vote. A vote would extend the timeline by roughly a year.

2028–2030: ordinances, licensing procedures, building control and traceability systems, then a staggered market launch. A detailed phase plan with the consequences for members can be found in the article THC Legalization Timeline Switzerland 2027–2030.

The online question: what happens if pure online shops for THC are banned?

The debate is seriously discussing tying the sale of THC cannabis to physical points of sale with on-site age verification. This is justified with youth protection, controlled supply, and the possibility of advice. Pure online shops with postal delivery would, under this scenario, not be permitted at all or only in a heavily restricted form – for example with identity verification at handover.

For CannabisClub.ch, this scenario is already planned for. Our response rests on two pillars. First: physical pickup stations. Members order and pay digitally, verify their age, and collect the products at an approved pickup point – with ID verification at handover. Second: cooperation with a pharmacy chain. Pharmacies already handle age verification, advisory obligations and documentation professionally today in day-to-day operation; through a cooperation, members will be able to obtain club products legally and close to home at many locations.

Both paths leave the decisive part of the club model untouched: membership, verification and pricing continue to run through the club. Only the final leg of the handover changes – from postal delivery to the counter.

What does not change as a result: members pay wholesale prices. The club is not an intermediary taking a margin, but an association that passes its procurement advantages directly on to members.

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

Why the club model enables the lowest prices even under the CanPG

The final price of legal cannabis will in future be made up of four blocks: production costs, regulatory costs (licences, laboratory, traceability), taxes and trade margin. The first three blocks affect all providers similarly. The difference arises in the margin and in the structure of the supply chain.

Classic value chains stack margins: producer, wholesaler, distributor, point of sale. It is precisely this stacking that falls away with us. CannabisClub.ch produces itself – licensed, indoor, in Sarnen – and supplies members at wholesale terms. A short chain, fewer intermediate stages, a lower final price for the same product quality.

Currently this principle applies to our CBD range. As soon as THC products may be legally supplied, it will apply equally to THC – that is the very reason the club exists.

Existing members have a head start here: their identity and age are already verified, their account is active, the delivery routes are set up. When the starting signal is given, they will not need to start over, but will be entitled to purchase from day one – subject to the legal requirements applicable at that time.

What the CanPG means for you as a consumer

Legal access first and foremost means safety: tested goods instead of street quality, declared values instead of guesswork, no contact with the black market, no criminal complaint and no fine.

But it also means rules: age verification, quantity limits, no passing on to third parties, no export abroad, and unchanged zero tolerance in road traffic. Driving-fitness rules are independent of the CanPG and are not relaxed by legalization – you can find details in our article on cannabis and driving in Switzerland.

For patients, the medical route does not change: cannabis on prescription remains in place and, for chronic conditions, continues to be the channel with medical supervision and potential cost coverage.

And for everyone who already consumes deliberately today: the transition period until market launch is the best moment to register, get to know the range, and prepare access.

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

Our position: inform neutrally, prepare clearly

We do not comment on the legislation as a lobby, but prepare operationally for every plausible outcome. If a liberal model with direct shipping comes about, we deliver directly to members. If a strict model with mandatory shop supply comes about, we operate pickup stations and work with pharmacy partners. If a hybrid model with online ordering and offline pickup comes about, that is our preferred setup anyway.

This flexibility is not a marketing promise but a consequence of the structure: whoever produces themselves and keeps the member relationship direct can change the supply channel without changing the pricing model.

What always holds: members get THC at wholesale prices as soon as it is legally possible. How that happens is for the legislator to decide. That it happens is for us to decide.

How a regulated sale is likely to work in practice

A realistic process can be derived from the pilot projects and from comparable regulations. Step one is registration with ID: age, residence and identity are verified once. Step two is product selection with declared values – strain, THC and CBD content, harvest date, analysis report. Step three is supply within the permitted monthly quantity, documented and traceable.

In addition, brief mandatory risk information is likely to be required: onset of effect, interactions with medication, driving fitness, notes for people under 25 and for people with a history of psychiatric conditions. This is not red tape but the price of a legal channel – and it is considerably lower than the risk of the black market.

For members of a club, these steps are largely already taken care of: registration and verification are done, product information is already standard today for our CBD batches, and the ordering routes are well established.

What will be added under every model: a clean separation between the adult market and youth protection. No advertising, no volume discounts, no sales promotion – rules we already apply in our communication today.

What the CanPG does not regulate – and where misunderstandings arise

The CanPG is not traffic law. Limit values, driving fitness and licence withdrawal remain governed by the Road Traffic Act and its ordinances. Anyone who drives after consumption still risks administrative and criminal proceedings.

The CanPG is not employment law. Safety-relevant activities, company directives and drug testing in the workplace continue to be governed by the employment contract, workplace safety, and cantonal practice.

The CanPG is not travel law. Exporting legally acquired products across the border remains prohibited – even to countries with their own regulation. Nothing changes for cross-border commuters and travellers.

And the CanPG is not a blank cheque for unlimited home cultivation. Whether and within what framework private cultivation will be permitted is one of the open detail questions; the logic of the draft bill focuses primarily on licensed production with quality control.

The black market as the yardstick

The success of the CanPG will not be measured by tax revenue, but by how much demand shifts from the illegal channel to the legal one. This requires three things: available quantity, acceptable prices, and low-threshold access.

For quantity, the number of cultivation licences is decisive. For prices, the supply chain is decisive – and this is exactly where the structural advantage of a club with its own production lies. For access, the distribution channel is decisive: a model that makes obtaining products unnecessarily complicated pushes consumers back into illegality.

That is why, in the debate, we argue for pragmatic channels: direct shipping to verified adults where possible; pickup stations and pharmacy partners where the legislator requires physical handover. Both work, both are controllable – and both allow wholesale prices for members.

Youth protection: the toughest test of the bill

No element of the CanPG is scrutinised politically as closely as youth protection. Foreseeable are a minimum age of 18, consistent ID checks at every supply, an advertising ban going beyond the tobacco advertising ban, and requirements on neutral packaging and warning notices.

In addition, there are likely to be requirements on choice of location: no sale in the immediate vicinity of schools, no visibility of products from outside, no vending machines. For online channels this means a double check – at registration and at handover.

For us, this framework is not an obstacle but an opportunity: a membership model with verified adults meets youth protection requirements structurally better than anonymous over-the-counter sales. We know our members, we document every supply, and we do not advertise consumption.

That is why we consistently formulate our content as knowledge rather than as a purchase incentive – even once THC can one day be legally sold.

Quality, testing and traceability

A regulated market stands or falls on laboratory values. Expected are mandatory analyses per batch for cannabinoid profile, pesticides, heavy metals, microbiological contamination and residual solvents for extracts, plus seamless traceability from the mother plant to the point of supply.

That is exactly what we already deliver today in the CBD segment: indoor production in Sarnen, defined genetics, batch numbers and analysis certificates. The transition to THC is therefore primarily a licensing question, not a process question.

Standardisation is also a medical argument: patients need reproducible active-ingredient levels. Anyone receiving changing batches with sharply fluctuating THC content cannot dose sensibly.

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