Ukrainian parliament legalizes medical cannabis

Yaroslav Zhelezniak, an MP from the Holos parliamentary faction, said this in a post on the Telegram messaging app, Ukrinform reports.

He specified that 248 lawmakers had voted for the adoption of the law "On regulating the circulation of cannabis plants for medical, industrial purposes, research, and scientific and technical activities to create conditions for expanding patient access to the necessary treatment of oncological diseases and post-traumatic stress disorders obtained due to war" (No. 7457).

The purpose of the document is to expand patient access to treatment with drugs based on medical cannabis. The law allows military personnel suffering from PTSD, anxiety disorders, as well as epilepsy and cancer patients to be treated with appropriate drugs.

According to the law, the development of new narcotics or psychotropic substances of medical cannabis is planned to be allowed only for their use for medical purposes or for research and scientific and technical activities.

Healthcare institutions of all forms of ownership and individual entrepreneurs who have a license for medical practice will have the opportunity to purchase, transport, store, dispense, use, and destroy narcotic drugs.

In turn, activities involving the use of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors in research, scientific and technical activities, and educational activities will be allowed to legal entities of all forms of ownership if they have a license for this type of activity in accordance with the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Doctors will have the right to prescribe drugs with cannabis. Such drugs will be dispensed only to those with a medical prescription. In addition, people who have a prescription from a doctor and a document confirming the diagnosis will be able to enter Ukraine or leave the country with cannabis-based medicines in small quantities.

The law will come into effect six months after its publication.

The document was adopted at first reading on July 13 this year.