Ukraine: Government calls for legalization of medical cannabis

The war in Ukraine could have put the project on the back burner Legalization of medical cannabis filed in June 2021. The Ukrainian Ministry of Health announced yesterday, however, that the Ukrainian government supports the legalization of medical cannabis and expects the Rada, the country's unicameral parliament, to pass the bill.

«The government supports the bill on regulating the circulation of plants of the genus Cannabis for medical, industrial, and scientific purposes, and the creation of conditions for broadening patients» access to necessary treatment for cancer and war-induced post-traumatic stress disorder," wrote Viktor Liashko, Minister of Health, on his Facebook page.

«We understand the negative effect of war on mental health. We understand the number of people who will need medical treatment for this effect,» Lyashko writes.

«And we understand that there is no time to lose. Therefore, we have already prepared a legal basis to ensure the full cycle of production of cannabis-based medicines in Ukraine: from cultivation and processing to full production.»

The bill of law, which had failed to pass last July, plans to implement strict controls on the cultivation, production, and sale of cannabis-based medicines, including:

• the establishment of licenses for the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes
• the authorization for cultivation of plant varieties of the genus Cannabis for medical, industrial, scientific, and scientific and technical activities
• traceability of the movement of plant varieties of the genus Cannabis for medicinal purposes, their processed products, or manufactured medicines
• go out CBD and the industrial hemp controlled substances
• facilitate cannabis imports by temporarily removing import quotas

The bill generally authorizes the use of cannabis for medical purposes, but only on the basis of the following restrictions:

• The use of cannabis in medical practice will only be authorized in the form of cannabis-based medicines.
• These medications will only be available to patients via electronic prescription.
• Additional traceability requirements will apply to these medicines, including specific marking of each batch and unit of packaged products with a unique code
• Patients will only be allowed to store cannabis-based medications in the quantity specified on the prescription.