Switzerland’s St. Gallen Pilot Puts Fetterman’s Call for US Marijuana Legalization in Context

Fetterman backs a federal move beyond rescheduling

US Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, renewed his call for federal marijuana legalization on July 21, 2026. In its report on Fetterman’s legalization call, Marijuana Moment said the senator was promoting his support for the recently filed Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, or CAOA.

Fetterman said he had always been “very pro-weed” and described his position as rooted in a libertarian view that people should not be judged or punished for using cannabis. He argued that a path to wellness should be “legal, safe, and regulated,” rather than governed by criminal penalties.

The senator has supported administrative steps taken by both US President Joe Biden and US President Donald Trump, including the federal rescheduling process. He also cited the mass cannabis pardons issued by Biden. His latest message is that those steps do not replace an act of the US Congress ending federal prohibition.

But it is time for Congress to stop dicking around and make weed legal.

US Sen. John Fetterman

Switzerland’s St. Gallen experiment offers a different model

Switzerland’s own policy development is taking place through a controlled research model rather than the federal legislative proposal Fetterman is advocating in the United States. The St. Gallen project, planned for autumn 2026, is a five-year pilot examining the social, economic and health effects of regulated cannabis access for adults.

The Swiss project is expected to involve up to 5,000 adults. About 3,300 participants are expected to be eligible to purchase cannabis legally, with access through specialist stores, pharmacies or home delivery. Some participants will receive products by post after online consultations, making St. Gallen the only Swiss pilot described in the supplied research to test postal delivery.

The study is being conducted with the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich’s KOF Institute. A report on Switzerland’s St. Gallen postal-delivery pilot describes the project as an effort to compare distribution channels and examine whether regulated access can displace the illicit market.

Descheduling and rescheduling would produce different outcomes

The central distinction in the US debate is between descheduling and rescheduling. The CAOA would remove cannabis entirely from the US Controlled Substances Act. The separate proposal being considered by the US Drug Enforcement Administration would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III instead.

The Swiss pilot operates on another level again. It is a time-limited research project examining regulated access and delivery methods in one Swiss setting. It is not described in the supplied facts as a nationwide change to Switzerland’s cannabis law.

The difference between the three approaches can be summarised as follows:

The CAOA links legalization with criminal-justice measures

Fetterman’s support is not limited to removing cannabis from the federal schedules. The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act would also create measures aimed at people who were affected by prohibition and at communities harmed by the US criminal-justice system.

The proposal’s main elements, as described in the source report, include:

• Removing cannabis from the US Controlled Substances Act through descheduling.
• Creating a pathway to reduce and expunge prior criminal sentences for cannabis offenses.
• Restoring access to housing, employment and civil rights that people may have lost because of cannabis convictions.
• Applying a federal tax to marijuana.
• Using part of that tax revenue to create a Cannabis Justice Office within the US Department of Justice.
• Directing the office to manage a fund supporting job training, reentry and legal aid for people from communities harmed by prohibition.

Why rescheduling has not satisfied Fetterman

An administrative process versus an act of Congress

The CAOA was introduced one day after testimony concluded in a US Drug Enforcement Administration hearing on the proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. That rescheduling process began during the Biden administration and continued under the Trump administration.

Rescheduling would not be the same as removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act. Fetterman’s argument is that the federal government has already taken several steps, but that Congress still has to address the underlying prohibition directly.

In May, Fetterman gave Trump cross-party credit for advancing marijuana rescheduling and accelerating therapeutic access to psychedelics. He also said that his support for legal marijuana and psychedelics had remained consistent even when those positions were politically unpopular.

That distinction matters for the Swiss comparison. St. Gallen is testing how regulated access might work in a defined population and through different channels. Fetterman is backing a proposal that would change federal legal status across the United States and add a national framework for taxation and justice measures.

What the Swiss and US developments do—and do not—share

The two developments share a focus on moving away from blanket prohibition, but the supplied facts do not describe them as connected policies. Switzerland’s St. Gallen project is designed to generate evidence about regulated sales, delivery and market displacement. The US CAOA is a federal legislative proposal that would remove cannabis from the country’s controlled-substances framework.

A Swiss pilot and a US federal demand remain separate tracks

For readers in Switzerland, the immediate local development is the St. Gallen study: a defined, five-year test of regulated access and postal delivery. Fetterman’s remarks concern the United States, where he is pressing Congress to replace incremental federal changes with full descheduling and a broader justice framework.