Denmark: medical cannabis trials to continue

A large Danish parliamentary majority has decided to continue the medical cannabis trial program, which was due to expire at the end of 2021.

The agreement stipulates that the test program, initiated in 2017 , has been extended by four years. Doctors will thus be able to continue prescribing medical cannabis to patients, while the cultivation trial program is made permanent, in order to secure the investments already made by cannabis producers and future investments.

The current trial program for medical cannabis will expire at the end of 2021, with its continuation to be enacted by law. The Danish government will submit draft legislation in autumn 2021 for adoption before the end of the year.

Denmark, land of medical cannabis

The medical cannabis trial program began in 2018 in Denmark. In the first two and a half years of the program, more than 10,000 medical cannabis prescriptions have been dispensed to 2,550 patients. The most common conditions patients seek relief for using medical cannabis are neuropathic pain, nausea and vomiting, and spasticity.

Danish quality criteria are arguably the most draconian in Europe, and apply equally to Danish production and imports. Only 8 of the 63 product applications in Denmark's medical cannabis trial program have been approved since the program was launched in 2018, according to the Ministry Danish Ministry of Health. The products in question are those of Stenocare (since withdrawn following to the CannTrust scandal from whom they purchased), Bedrocan and Aurora.

Stenocare and Aurora already cultivate in Denmark, on their own sites, and export their cannabis to Germany, Sweden and the UK, in addition to supplying the local market. Stenocare is delighted with the continued experimentation and noted that «the Danish medical cannabis industry will continue to be an international quality leader, setting the highest possible standards and ensuring the best possible products and treatments for patients.»