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The Mediterranean country of Malta has on Tuesday legalised prescription of cannabis products for medicinal purposes by general practitioners.
The new law means that patients would be able to access non-smoking forms of medicine at pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription after a control card has been approved by the country’s Superintendent of Public Health.
Patients with the following three conditions are eligible to be prescribed with medicinal cannabis: chronic pain, spasticity in multiple sclerosis and side effects of chemotherapy.
Malta’s parliament started debate on the new medicinal cannabis law at the beginning of the year.
The laws were relaxed in 2015, through legal amendments which allowed cannabis to be prescribed by specialists, under very strict conditions.
That meant cannabis remained difficult to access by most patients.
In addition to the legalisation of prescription of medicinal cannabis, the Mediterranean island country is also in the process of regulating the manufacture of medicinal cannabis products, with five companies having already been issued licences manufacture cannabis for medicinal purposes.
Photo by ©Shutterstock.com/AtomazulThe term medical marijuana refers to using the whole, unprocessed marijuana plant or its basic extracts to treat symptoms of illness and other conditions. You recall that in the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized or approved the marijuana plant as medicine. However, scientific study of the chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids, has led to two FDA-approved medications that contain cannabinoid chemicals in pill form. Continued research may lead to more medications. Marijuana plant contains chemicals that may help treat a range of illnesses and symptoms, many schools of thought still argue that it should be made legal for medical purposes. In fact, a growing number of countries have legalized marijuana for medical use.
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