Ukraine votes to legalize medical cannabis

The Ukrainian Parliament voted in favor of legalization medical cannabis.

The bill, proposed by Prime Minister Denys Smyhal, awaits formal approval by President Zelensky and is expected to come into force in six months' time. The decision comes after a period of debate and is motivated in part by the ongoing war with Russia.

❕@GolosZmin party was the first in the @verkhovna_rada to insist on the importance of legalizing medical cannabis in Ukraine. Today it's done ✅ Keep working! pic.twitter.com/ahKDHsGN6R

- Kira Rudik (@kiraincongress) December 21, 2023

Ukraine's unicameral parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed the bill by an overwhelming majority of 248 votes to 16, despite opposition and the numerous «spam» amendments tabled. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must now sign the bill into law, and lawmakers estimate that patients will be able to start receiving prescriptions in the second half of 2024.

M. Zelenskyy gave his support to legalization in a speech to the nation on June 28.

«All the best practices in the world, all the most effective policies, all the solutions, no matter how difficult or unusual they may seem to us, must be applied in Ukraine so that Ukrainians, all our citizens, do not have to endure the pain, stress and trauma of war,» said Mr. Zelenskyy.

Bill 7457 authorizes the cultivation of medical cannabis, the manufacture of processed products and medicines derived from them, and the prescription of medical cannabis by Ukrainian doctors. Patients with a cannabis prescription will also be allowed to enter or leave Ukraine with small quantities of the drug. The Ministry of Health will determine the specific conditions and medicines authorized by the new law.