According to a proposal by the Health Committee of the parliament (Nationalrat) of 4 May 2006 the Swiss Parliament decided on 20 December to relax prohibition of the medical use of natural cannabis products. The decision allows the Health Ministry to issue exemptions for the medical use of cannabis and the approval of cannabis-based medicines.

The proposal of the Health Committee says: "The committee suggests that with a certificate of exemption by the BAG [Federal Department of Health, Health Ministry] a limited medical use of narcotics of the type cannabis should be made newly possible in individual cases. At the same time, the substance can be subjected to the pharmaceutical evaluation by the Swiss Pharmaceutical Institute, once a corresponding narcotic will be used as an active agent in a medicine, which possesses an approval by the Swiss Pharmaceutical Institute. Physicians then can prescribe this drug for the approved indication."

Parliamentary Initiative for a partial revision of the narcotics law of 4 May 2006: http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/ff/2006/8573.pdf

(Source: Protocol of the parliament's session of 20 December 2006, Parliamentary Initiative by the Health Committee of 4 May 2006)