Starting April 2025, patients suffering from chronic pain will have greater access to medical marijuana, according to a new decree from the Ministry of Health. Under the expanded access, general practitioners (GPs) in the country will be allowed to prescribe medical marijuana to registered patients with chronic pain, writes Expats.
Ministry spokesperson Ondřej Jakob confirmed to news outlets Novinky and Právo that the new rules are designed to simplify access.”The decree allows GPs to prescribe medicinal cannabis for chronic, intractable pain.”
Under the current law, only specialized doctors can prescribe cannabis, which is limiting for many patients. According to official data, roughly 8,000 people in the country use cannabis legally, but the demand is much higher. The National Drug Monitoring Center recently revealed results of its survey showing that about 600,000 Czechs use medical marijuana, and more than a million have tried it for self-treatment this year.
“It doesn’t make sense that we can prescribe strong opiates like morphine but not medical cannabis,” Dr. Petr Šonka, chairman of the Czech Association of General Practitioners, told Novinky. Šonka further stressed the importance of managing pain for terminal patients.
Furthermore, under the new rules, prescriptions will be valid for up to three months, and insurance will still cover 90% of the expense for up to 30 grams of marijuana per month. Coverage for cannabis extracts will also be expanded.
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Proposal To Allow Cultivation And Possession
The expanded medical marijuana access follows up on the Czech government’s proposal of a draft law that would reform criminal law regarding cannabis, with changes including relaxed rules on home cultivation and possession. The draft law now needs to be viewed by both chambers of Parliament.
H/T: www.benzinga.com
