24 June 2026

In a report adopted on 24 June 2026, the Federal Council confirmed that drug checking constitutes an essential harm reduction and early intervention measure and announced its intention to strengthen the legal certainty of this practice and safeguard the quality of the services offered. Introduced in the late 1990s under the four-pillar drug policy, drug checking allows users to have samples of psychoactive substances analysed free of charge and anonymously, and remains, in the Federal Council's view, fully justified in light of the spread of particularly dangerous products such as synthetic opioids.

As such activities are subject to the strict requirements of the Federal Act on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (Narcotics Act, NarcA), requiring authorisation by the canton, by Swissmedic, or by the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) depending on the substance, the Federal Council, in fulfilment of Postulate Molina 22.4047, proposed clarifying the legal basis and simplifying these procedures at the next revision of the NarcA, notably through a single cantonal authorisation for all drug checking activities. It also advocated making better use of the resulting data, which the FOPH is examining with a view to integration into a national substance monitoring system.

For more information, see here.