Association Legalize it! Social Club: The Hanfstübli takes off

Another milestone in the history of the association Legalize it! For the first time, we have been able to legally sell THC-containing cannabis to study participants as part of the Zurich pilot project “Züri Can”. As of November 2023, we've already sold over two kilograms!

Review since Legalize it! 99

In the fall of 2023, we reported that numerous permits were needed before we could finally start selling cannabis legally on August 22. In addition to the permits, a successful sales launch also required the student ID cards - and of course the study cannabis.

In the following, we will explain how the sale launched and what problems we encountered to ensure a punctual and successful sales launch.

First delivery of goods

In mid-August, we were finally able to order study cannabis from the producers for the first time. When we collected the parcel from the post office, we learned what a “Dispobox” is: with this shipping method, instead of a conventional cardboard box, the post office provides a Dispobox in which the producer packed the goods. On delivery, the Dispobox remains with the customer until the next delivery, when empty boxes are exchanged for full ones. In principle, the Dispobox is a great, environmentally friendly idea. However, the implementation did not work out as expected: The postal clerk insisted that we were not allowed to take the Dispobox with us, but had to repack the goods on the spot! In this case, we had almost 70 packs of five grams of freshly packaged cannabis.

We all know how strong the smell of cannabis can be, and a short time later the whole post office smelled of fresh weed. What must have seemed strange or amusing to the other customers did not amuse the postal clerk at all. Suddenly, she threatened with calling the police! It took a lot of persuasion to convince her, as well as the branch manager that we are part of the pilot project, in which cannabis would be sent to us legally by post

For all subsequent deliveries, we were able to agree with the producers to use normal parcels and make the packaging more odor-proof.

Precision landing sales launch

After the first delivery of goods had arrived, all that was missing were the student ID cards. The city sent us the student ID cards much later than originally planned. It was not until Monday, August 21, one day before the start of sales, that the post office made its first delivery attempt. Most other social clubs received their package on Monday, but our delivery attempt was unsuccessful and we were sweating blood. It turned out that the city had addressed the parcel incorrectly - to “SC Hanfstübli” instead of “Legalize it Social Club”. This incorrect address had landed unnoticed in a database months ago.

When we noticed this mishap on Monday afternoon, we were in despair: without the student ID cards, we would not have been able to launch the sale! The Track & Trace system, in which every hand-in must be recorded, requires the student ID cards to be scanned. We invited over 40 participants to come by one by one from 4 p.m. onwards on Tuesday to collect their first cannabis order.

It was only thanks to last-minute clarifying phone calls with the post office that we were able to ensure that a new delivery attempt would be made the next day instead of the parcel being returned to the sender.

To ensure that the letter carrier was guaranteed to find someone on Tuesday, Markus and Michael decided to spend the morning in front of the base camp entrance from 6.55 am (!) and await the postman. He arrived shortly after 9 a.m. and was actually able to hand over the parcel with the student ID cards!

Impressions of the sales launch

The first study participants arrived at base camp shortly before 4 pm. We went through the same steps with everyone individually: Scan study ID, match ID number, mark ID as handed in and save, scan goods, hand over goods, hand over safer-use brochure, offer free activated charcoal filters and, of course, answer any personal questions.

Everyone's anticipation was palpable and most of them came into the room with a smile on their face. “Legal cannabis at last! I've been waiting 30 years for this!” some of them beamed at us happily.

Some would have liked to take a pack of all the products to try them out, but the law on pilot trials stipulates a limit of 10 grams of cannabis products per day of dispensing, i.e. two packs.

The conclusion of the first day: on August 22, we sold a total of 69 packs to 38 participants. This was the most successful collection day so far (as of October 30th), but with the continuously increasing number of members, it is likely we will soon break this record.

System difficulties

In addition to the Track & Trace system, the “CDS” from the company Cannavigia, which was developed on behalf of the FOPH and is used by all cannabis pilot projects in Switzerland, there is also the “Züri Can” system, which was developed by ITW on behalf of the city of Zurich.

These two systems must work together when participants receive their study card at the first dispensary. After marking the student card as handed out, the status in the ITW system changes to “authorized”, which is then communicated to the CDS system, where the status changes to “active” and cannabis dispensaries can be booked from then on.

At the beginning of the project, there were repeated problems with this synchronization. The two systems were either slow in their synchronization or, in the worst case, did not synchronize at all - some social clubs had to send participants home a few times without any goods.

We were able to resolve this problem in a feedback session with ITW. After explaining that study participants kept slipping through the cracks over the first two years, we were able to ensure that changes in one system would be adopted by the other system without delay in future. We are going one step further and activating the study IDs as soon as they arrive - so even days of synchronization problems won't affect our operations.

Even when the systems are working, things can still go wrong when using the systems. For example, with the “Apricot Mimosa” variety, which is the only flower variety that also has a CBD content, the laboratory report accidentally saved the lower CBD value (7.6 %) instead of the THC value (9 %). This can sometimes happen, but it was not possible to correct this value afterwards.

Worse still, the city later informed us that it was even possible to use the track & trace system in such a way that more cannabis was accidentally dispensed than is legally permitted! Preventing this is actually the main purpose of the Track & Trace system, which is why we consider this to be a really embarrassing mistake.

Fortunately, in our case we have a safety net: we work with pre-orders and our store system also checks the THC limit - but correctly! Other clubs that don't work exclusively with pre-orders, on the other hand, therefore have an increased workload.

Survey and results

Of course, we looked at the products ourselves and exchanged ideas with the participants. But then we wanted to find out more: How are the products being received? Do the participants agree or do opinions differ?

So we conducted a survey. The results are clear. The unprocessed flowers from SwissExtract are well received: “Wedding Cake (16.8 % THC, no CBD)” and “Cairo Dessert (12.3 % THC, no CBD)” are the most popular products in terms of taste and effect, while the third flower variety “Apricot Mimosa (9 % THC, 7.6 % CBD)” is polarizing.

The results and free-text comments were also unanimous with regard to Pure's hashish tablets (pressed pollen): Our study participants are used to something else, when it comes to hash. We hope that hash consumers will be more satisfied with the upcoming products from SwissExtract.

Self-sacrificing commitment

It is thanks to the commitment of the Hanfstübli team that our business has got off to such a good start and is running so smoothly for the study participants. Behind the scenes, there are truly abysses of challenges that you would never have to contend with in other areas of the retail trade. There were errors in the dispatch of student ID cards that almost cost us the start of sales. Thanks to test shipments of parcels, we were able to detect problems with the receipt of goods in advance, otherwise we would have been left without goods at the start of sales in the worst case scenario.

A key challenge throughout the project was the dependency on various third-party IT systems that we rely on for the delivery of goods and member administration. We are obliged to use these systems. Unfortunately, we repeatedly found software errors in the systems and processes that had not been thought through to the end. The approach of taking orders in advance and only handing over goods that have already been paid for has proved to be very successful.

Michael spent months of voluntary work optimizing and programming the ordering process. Our store system protects us: we can use it to intercept errors in the study software. Michael also coordinates communication with the producers and the study management. He also covers the financial risk.

Sven takes care of regular sales on Saturdays. Sonia makes her studio available, conducts the intake interviews, takes care of incoming goods and inventory in addition to sales during the week, optimizes storage and keeps records.

All in all, we have put in hours of work that can now be quantified in months - and we have to cover the costs ourselves. However, we now have our first income and have started to pay for individual jobs.

Where we are now

We currently have 78 members in our database. Of the 78 members, 73 have already had their student ID cards issued by the city and can therefore order cannabis from us. The remaining members have yet to do so.

So we still have room for some latecomers! If you are interested or know someone, you can register on our website.

Last modified: 2024/03/27 08:56

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Legal overview

Shit happens 15 (Summer 2023)

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