Germany to set up National Cannabis Agency

In a bill, the German Minister of Health recommends the regulation of the cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana by a state agency, to treat sick people.

Patients who are among the first to have access to medical cannabis would be those suffering from severe pain. medical marijuana would be available by prescription and reimbursed by insurance. Patients, on the other hand, would still not be allowed to grow cannabis at home.

So far, 400 people in Germany were legally allowed to access cannabis, with their own money, and mainly people suffering from terminal cancer, with cannabis coming from the Netherlands.

The proposals to establish a State-controlled cannabis production in Germany are part of many debates within the German government and add to the expected increase in patients treated with cannabis in the future. And officially importing cannabis from the Netherlands is a lengthy process, with patients sometimes having to wait several weeks.

This National Cannabis Agency would determine the price that insurance companies would have to pay.

The bill would be ready for the German Chancellery to review, and a change in drug laws is expected by Parliament in the coming months. It is unclear when the first patients will be able to benefit from these changes in law, however.

In early 2015, Marlene Mortler, the Federal Commissioner for Medicines, had advocated for access to cannabis for patients with chronic illness and severe pain through their health insurance, rather than paying out of pocket.

«This is our goal for the future, more people in Germany should access to cannabis as medicine »We wanted to bring this law to the Bundestag [the German parliament] by the end of the year so it would come into effect in 2016,« Mrs. Mortler had said in February.

The possession, cultivation, and sale of cannabis are still prohibited in Germany.