Laurence Dollimore
SPAIN is on track to legalise cannabis for medicinal purposes, it emerged today.
The Ministry of Health has kickstarted the process of passing a new law that will approve the use of cannabis as treatment for a range of conditions.
According to reports in Spanish press, the new law is in the ‘dialogue and discussion phase’. During this period, experts, professionals and even residents can email the ministry to let them know their thoughts on the proposal.
This week the Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, met first with the European Observatory of Cannabis Consumption and Cultivation and, subsequently, with professional associations and scientific societies. He will also meet with the Spanish Observatory of Medicinal Cannabis.
The ministry said its law, hoped to be passed within the next year, is a “rigorous measure based on the best scientific evidence available.”
It added that evaluations will be carried out periodically to verify the drug’s effectiveness as a treatment method.
The new law is designed to be a guarantee “in terms of the quality of the products and the safety of patients.”
The regulation is designed to be updated rapidly as strong and clear evidence of cannabis’s effectiveness emerges.
However not everyone is pleased with the plan, as it currently does not include marijuana buds and self-cultivation, two of the main demands of suffering patients.
According to sources quoted by El Diario, the products will at first be cannabis oils which will only be authorised by doctors from the national health service (SNS) – and not private facilities.
Another bone of contention is that the products will only be available at hospital pharmacies, and not those found on almost every corner of Spain – making them that much more inaccessible.
Currently, those who would qualify for the treatemtents include chemotherapy patients suffering from nausea and vomiting, seizures and refractory pain.
Other patients may be added to that list, sources added.
Spain joins several other European countries who have committed to medicinal cannabis, including Portugal, the UK and Norway.
