Members of the Verkhovna Rada supported the draft law on medical cannabis in the second reading on Thursday, December 21.
This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
The decision was supported by 248 MPs. The law will come into force six months after its publication, approximately in the second half of 2024.
It provides for the following:
- the regulation of cannabis turnover only in medical, industrial and scientific activities;
- distribution of marijuana for recreational use will continue to be considered a crime and will be investigated by the police in accordance with the law;
- the production of medicines will be strictly controlled at all stages: only legal entities that obtain an appropriate license and GMP certificate, under round-the-clock video surveillance with access for the National Police. Each bush will be individually coded to track the movement of plants to the patient;
- Medicinal cannabis-based drugs will be available only with an electronic prescription, which the doctor will write to the patient according to his or her condition (as is the case with morphine).
Only the Batkivshchyna and European Solidarity factions did not fully support the legalization of medical cannabis. The former, headed by its leader Yulia Tymoshenko, has consistently opposed this initiative.
Before the vote, the co-chair of the Eurosolidarity faction, Iryna Herashchenko, said that activists called for the bill to be sent for a second reading. According to her, none of her amendments were taken into account by her political party.
“At this stage, this is not a text about medical cannabis, but about its industrial production. Without clear state regulation,” Gerashchenko believes.
- Medical cannabis-based products are used to reduce pain, muscle cramps, treat anorexia, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. They also help to treat epilepsy, psoriasis, renal failure; relieve pain in seriously ill and palliative patients, including patients with cancer and patients with HIV.
