Eoin Keenan
The First Cannabis Cigarette
Heimat had just launched their cigarettes in July to add to their existing range of hemp infused products such as ice tea, beer and oils. The high CBD level (around 20%) found in the cigarettes will be extremely useful in treating pain, nausea, epilepsy, panic-attacks and other ailments.
For a full review of the European cannabis market, download The European Cannabis Report: 5th Edition, here.
Overwhelming Cannabis Cigarette Demand
Due to the pioneering nature of Heimat’s product, initial sales have already been incredibly high. The product (which retails at around €18) not only completely sold out in-store but also sold out on the Heimat website, causing the company to roll out more units than they had initially anticipated. “We are still overwhelmed by the interest in our cigarettes,” said marketing director Björn Koch.
Throughout most European countries, the sale of cannabis and hemp products containing more than 0.2% Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is illegal. In Switzerland, however, the legal limit is 1%, prompting a surge in interest from the cannabis community, not only in Switzerland but from the rest of Europe and beyond. “People from around the globe contacted us about our new cannabis cigarette. The empty shelves at Coop show that people here in Switzerland seem to like the product.”
700 Coop Cooperative stores are now selling the cigarettes across Switzerland.
Cannabis Tourism
Somewhat expectedly, the cigarettes have drawn quite a lot of attention to the Swiss marketplace. Although, in an interview with The Telegraph, Sarah Roloff of Switzerland Tourism iterates that “The primary travel motivation of tourists who come to Switzerland is the beauty of nature and its landscapes and this will remain so in the future,”. Koch, however, is more optimistic – stating “We are pretty sure that many people living at the Swiss border in Germany, Austria, France and Italy will make a short trip to taste the cigarette. We are not sure if people living further away from Switzerland will take a long journey only because of the cannabis cigarette. But it is surely is an additional argument to spend some time here: smoking a cannabis cigarette while eating some cheese and enjoying the impressive view in the mountains.”
Regardless of what Heimat’s cigarettes might do for the Swiss economy, cannabis is already proving to be a huge earner, with the annual sales of legal cannabis and hemp products in Switzerland totalling around $103.6 million annually (roughly 1.5% of the Swiss GDP).
