Belgium's Health Minister warned to legalize and reimburse medical cannabis

Patrick Dewals, political scientist and medical cannabis campaigner, has hired a law firm to serve formal notice on the Belgian government, and more specifically on the Minister of Public Health, Maggie De Block. He is demanding that the government authorize and reimburse the medical use of cannabis. The Minister of Health has, of course, refused spontaneous legalization, but denies any ongoing initiatives.

Maggie De Block put on notice

Patrick Dewals has put the government on notice because he considers that «the impossibility of legally obtaining cannabis for medical purposes on prescription in Belgium constitutes a violation of the right to health protection, the right to health care, the right to be able to lead a dignified life with respect for privacy and, finally, the right to life».

A formal notice is a procedure against a defaulting debtor. It does not initiate legal proceedings, but sets a deadline by which proceedings may be initiated if an amicable settlement has not been reached.

Patrick Dewals is calling for prescription patients to be able to grow their own cannabis, for a clear list of pathologies qualifying for access to medical cannabis to be drawn up, for medical students to be trained in medical cannabis, and for GPs to be able to prescribe it under less stringent conditions and with complete independence.

The deadline for the formal notice expired yesterday, and in the absence of any response, the activist decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise €4,000 to launch possible legal proceedings against the minister.

Because of her non-policy with regard to Medicinal cannabis, I had the Belgian Minister of Health to be given a notice of default by a lawyer. To democratically distribute lawyer fees, I started the crowdfunding FREE MC. All help is welcome !!! https://t.co/WY91VoKXWd

- Patrick Dewals (@patrickdewals1) May 6, 2019

While he claims to have received no response from the Minister, the latter does claim to have sent a press release to the association. WeAreSofie whose patients signed the letter of formal notice. According to a spokeswoman, the press release stated that the legalization of medical cannabis «is not currently possible» but welcomed the approval of the creation of the federal cannabis agency by parliamentarians on the Health Committee.

The agency is to enable the production and trade of medical cannabis by the government in strict compliance with the 1961 United Nations Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This implies significant restrictions, for example, its mandate appears to be limited to research purposes. Moreover, the agency has still not been created.

For patient associations, this is not enough. Despite these «advances», they feel they are not being listened to: «We provided the Minister with nearly 12,000 studies on therapeutic cannabis, but they ended up in the dustbin,» says the president of the association. WeAreSofie, Jasper Antonissen.

The association is named after Sofie Voncken, a little girl with epilepsy whose father treated her with cannabis, and whose supplier was fined €8,000 last month. A walk organized by the was held yesterday in Brussels to demand the right to self-cultivation and the training of doctors in medical cannabis.

At the same time, the Belgian government has just legalized CBD cannabis which will be regulated like tobacco. According to a recent report, total legalization could generate 144 million euros for the Belgian state.