Winter 2021/22: Further steps towards a cannabis social club

A step towards the implementation of the pilot projects has been taken: The city of Zurich has published its conditions and invited interested parties to operate cannabis social clubs. From fall 2022, their members could legally smoke pot in the city of Zurich. Without further warning, the city of Zurich publicized in a media conference on September 14, 2021, that the tender for participation in the cannabis pilot project is open with immediate effect. We also want to participate in it. We have published our initial findings on the subject in Legalize it! 91 on pages 4 and 5.

At the moment, only consumers residing in the city of Zurich can participate - unfortunately, the canton of Zurich is not enough. However, we hope that this project will spur other municipalities or cantons to carry out their own project. If they are interested, we would be happy to coach them. However, many regions are not yet ready, although they have signaled interest.

In the summer issue, we reported on the open questions and problematic views. In the meantime, many things have been clarified, in particular with the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the city of Zurich. In this way, data protection and anonymity are guaranteed. Also, no one has to fear suddenly ending up in therapy or being pursued by the police if they participate.

Nevertheless, many restrictions remain. For example, the existing zero tolerance in road traffic still applies to study participants. The fact that a person is already using must be proven by a urine test. Consumption in public is not tolerated. Participants will be tested for pregnancy (and if positive, will not be allowed to receive cannabis). Finally, the project is also only designed to last three and a half years, after which participants will be exposed to the black market again. All in all, we find a lot of things very borderline.

The offices, for their part, seem to bend in all directions to suit the policy…. Ultimately, the regulations and reports leave a lot of room for interpretation - at the moment, the calculation still seems to work out. But it cannot be ruled out that one or the other view will still have to be clarified in court, especially on the part of the opponents of the pilot projects.

How is such a cannabis social club (CSC) supposed to function? What challenges does it face, and how can the whole thing be financed? These are questions that we have roughly clarified for ourselves. We have prepared a first concept, which we hope to publish in detail soon.

Our planned CSC originates from the Association Legalize it! and is financed at least in the start-up by this, among other things by Michael's earmarked donations. In order to meet the city requirements, we are currently founding a new independent association “Legalize it! Social Club”.

At stadt-zuerich.ch/cannabisprojekt, the guidelines for operation as well as the forms relevant for registration are available. They give a good impression of all the forms that need to be filled out, reports that need to be obtained, and concepts that need to be written! In addition to the concept, a registration includes the answering of various questions on operation and health protection. We have worked these out and submitted them to the city of Zurich together with all the necessary forms. Whether we will be allowed to implement our CSC and where we may have to make adjustments will be clarified in the coming weeks. However, we are confident that we will be awarded the contract for one of the ten planned CSCs planned.

Currently we are part of an office community. There we have a workplace for Sven and access to the meeting room. However, there is no consumption facility there, so we could initially only sell cannabis. In order for our CSC to provide a consumption location, we would need a place with an approved fumoir, which is expensive. Any tips are appreciated!

In mid-October, we wrote to around 70 members of the association Legalize it! who live in the city of Zurich. We give interested members the opportunity to sign up on a waiting list in advance. About 20 people have already made use of this. We are allowed to accept a maximum of 100 members. So if you are a resident of the city of Zurich and would also like to join the waiting list, you are welcome to do so at join.hanflegal.ch/csc.

More information about the pilot trials at hanflegal.ch/pilot-trials