Supermarkets in Switzerland start selling CBD cigarettes

  • Swiss tobacco company launches world’s first legal cannabis-tobacco cigarette product
  • Cannabis was decriminalized in Switzerland in 2012
  • Around 500,000 people consume cannabis in Switzerland per year
  • Annual sales of legal cannabis reach around 100 million francs
  • Could this be the future of CBD products?

The world’s first legal “tobacco-hemp cigarettes” have gone on sale in Swiss supermarkets.

Containing 20% CBD and less than 1% THC, the new CBD cigarettes will be legal to smoke anywhere you could normally smoke in Switzerland, or indeed, in any country which has legalised CBD.

Switzerland decriminalized cannabis in 2012, but retained a blanket ban on THC, explaining why the new cigarettes’ THC contents must contain less than 1% THC.

Costing 19.90 Francs, the cigarettes will not get you high due to their low-level of THC. However, due to the cannabidiol (CBD) content, the cigarettes will contain medicinal cannabinoids, but with the addition of tobacco, the cigarettes can hardly be classified as a “health product”.

Created by independent Swiss tobacco company, Heimat, the cigarettes will be legally available in any Coop supermarket in Switzerland.

Switzerland decriminalized cannabis in 2012, allowing the Swiss public to carry small quantities of low-THC cannabis.

Dutch cigarettes with CBDSince 28 September 2012, the possession of fewer than 10 grams of cannabis is no longer a criminal infringement. The amount of cannabis in each Heimat packet is around 4 grams, meaning smokers have nothing to fear carrying them around in their pockets.

Decriminalisation has proved popular among Swiss citizens, with around 6.5% of the population (500,000) regularly consuming the drug, spending just over $100,000,000 a year on the medicinal herb and related products.

While there are places, especially in cities like Amsterdam and Barcelona, to purchase ‘pre-rolled’ joints, Heimat’s will be the “first and only cigarette containing cannabis that is sold in a regular supermarket.” Could this be the future of CBD products?

Still containing tobacco, the cigarettes’ medicinal benefits, even with 20% hemp CBD, will be limited, especially as many who consume CBD for medicinal purposes choose to use other methods, such as tinctures or vapourisers, over smoking it directly.

Tobacco is one of the greatest issues facing the European cannabis community. Despite 6 million people worldwide dying from tobacco use, 78% of Europeans use tobacco with their cannabis compared to only 4.4% of Americans.

Using tobacco with cannabis can be extremely dangerous, smoking 3-4 cannabis joints with tobacco a day causes roughly the same damage as smoking 20 normal cigarettes a day.

CBD products have already proven popular in the Swiss supermarket, with a Coop spokesperson claiming that hemp-based products, such as tea, beer, and oil, “are in high demand.”

Heimat’s cost £20 and can be purchased from their official website. Will you be trying some?