Swiss cannabis consumption & prevalence

Share of the resident population using cannabis, by age group (Swiss Addiction Monitoring).

Key facts

Lifetime use (15–64): ≈ 33 %
Past 12 months: ≈ 8 %
Regular users: ≈ 220,000

Key takeaways

About a third of 15–64-year-olds have used cannabis; roughly 8% in the past twelve months.
Around 220,000 people use regularly — a multiple of the available legal pilot slots.
Past-12-month prevalence peaks among 15–24-year-olds and drops sharply thereafter.

Interpretation

Prevalence data is the strongest argument in the regulation debate because it shows prohibition and consumption are largely decoupled: despite criminalisation, Switzerland ranks near the European top. The age curve matters most — use concentrates in a life stage where prevention outperforms repression. For market analysis: real demand exceeds what any legal channel can currently serve by orders of magnitude.

Limitations

Self-reported survey data under-records illegal substance use.
Survey waves are years apart; intermediate years are interpolated.
Some surveys do not cleanly separate CBD from THC use.

Data

Age group	12 months (%)	Lifetime (%)
15 (HBSC)	10	18
15–24	20	42
25–34	15	55
35–44	7	48
45–54	3	32
55–64	1	20

Methodology

Representative population surveys (CoRolAR, SHS). 'Past 12 months' use criterion. 15-year-olds from HBSC.

Sources

Suchtmonitoring Schweiz / CoRolAR — Sucht Schweiz
BFS — Schweizerische Gesundheitsbefragung — BFS
HBSC-Studie 15-Jährige — HBSC

Related data & articles