New Survey: No Clear Evidence Cannabis causes Schizophrenia
- Malta becomes latest European country to legalise cannabis for medical uses
- Three conditions qualify: chronic pain, MS, and cancer
- All forms of medical cannabis will be available, including raw plant
- CBD will fall under the same category, meaning it cannot be sold over-the-counter
- €30 million will be invested in the country by 5 Multinational cannabis companies
Malta has become the latest European country to legalise cannabis for medical purposes.
Amendments made to the Drug Dependence Act (Treatment not Imprisonment) Bill were voted on last Thursday, 23rd March, by Maltese parliament after its third and final reading.
The Bill will allow patients to be prescribed medical cannabis by their family doctor, if they qualify under the new Bill. Currently, there are only three qualifying conditions which would make a patient eligible to be treated by medicinal cannabinoids: chronic pain, pain and nausea associated with chemo, and spasticity in multiple sclerosis.
While cannabis will be available in its raw plant form, the majority of patients will be prescribed synthetic cannabinoids, such as Sativex.
Abusing your medical card by smoking the raw plant, as opposed to vaporizing or baking into an edible/oil/tincture, could result in the loss of legal access.
Control cards will be provided to qualifying patients once approved by the Superintendent of Public Health.
“One step closer to introducing law regulating production of cannabis for medicinal&research purposes as discussions in committee have been concluded.”
– Chris Cardona MP, Minister for the Economy and Deputy Leader for Party Affairs Labour Party
Patients will be able to purchase medical cannabis from pharmacies with their prescription, just like any other medication.
Cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive cannabinoid which is legally available across the EU over-the-counter, controversially will fall under the same restrictions as full-plant extracts.
Medical cannabis will provide a huge boost to Malta’s economy, with five contracts worth over €30 million already being given to multinational companies to produce cannabis within Malta.
Malta Enterprise has approved five projects related to the production of medical cannabis with a total investment of €30 million, creating 185 new jobs in the cannabis industry.
Three of the companies are Canadian while the others are Australian and Israeli.
The terms of production of medical cannabis are currently in the final stage of discussion in parliament.
While more and more EU countries are legalising access to medical cannabinoids, the British Government remains defiant in the face of scientific fact.
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