Russia and Ukraine take an interest in cannabis

Faced with the growing acceptance of medical cannabis across the Atlantic, and particularly in the United States, some countries in Europe and Asia are beginning to take an interest in its potential. In Asia, Thailand, South Korea and soon the Philippines, have paved the way for medical cannabis, despite initially harsh anti-cannabis laws. In Europe, many countries have legalized it in recent years. Faced with this paradigm shift, even the most reluctant states like France or Russia are considering the issue.

Russia: Importing cannabis for research

The Russian Ministry of Health has introduced a bill of law which amends decree no. 508 of July 22, 2009 on «the establishment of state quotas for narcotics and psychotropic substances’. This text would amend the current laws on the subject to authorize the importation of cannabis for research purposes. Specifically, it proposes to import 1.1kg of cannabis, 300g of hashish and 50g of cannabis oil - which was previously impossible - and to increase THC import quotas from 10g per year to 50g per year.

The document specifies that imported cannabis may only be used for scientific research purposes, and that its medicinal use remains prohibited. However, the Ministry of Health stressed that recent WHO recommendations which recognize the therapeutic value of cannabis. The government has already approved the bill, and Russian scientists are due to receive cannabis (probably imported from Canada or the Netherlands) later this year. The aim is to study its addictive potential.

Russian leaders have expressed concern about the public's use of recreational cannabis on at least two occasions: at the Council for Culture and Art about his association with rap culture and on the occasion of Canadian legalization. Despite a burgeoning scientific interest, the Russian authorities remain closed-minded on the subject. The few citizen initiatives that tried to open up the debate went unheeded.

Ukrainian Health Minister in favor of medical cannabis

On January 30, the Ukrainian Medical Cannabis Association, a non-governmental organization, has submitted a petition to the government to legalize cannabis for medicinal and scientific purposes. Published on the government website, in just two days the petition collected over 6,600 signatures and won the support of the Ukrainian Health Minister, Ulana Suprun. The latter published a Facebook post in which it lists the main countries that have authorized its use and the diseases or conditions for which it is deemed effective. In addition to Russia, Ukraine is surrounded by Romania and Poland both of which have legalized medical cannabis.