Malta’s government proposes to legalise cannabis-based medicines

• Malta’s government has proposed allowing doctors to prescribe cannabis for medical purposes
• Family doctors will be able to prescribe cannabinoid-based medications without a specialist’s consent
• Herbal cannabis will remain illegal under proposals

Malta’s Parliament has begun debating legislation concerning the legalisation of the use of medical cannabis. Chris Fearne, Malta’s Health Minister, announced to reporters on Monday that he will be submitting an amendment to the Drug Dependence Act of 2015, which would remove some of the restrictions on medical cannabis.

Under current regulations, medical cannabis in Malta can only be prescribed by a specialist registered under the Medicines Act, a “narrow” selection. Every medical-cannabis product prescribed had to be approved by a local medicines authority or the EU’s medicines watchdog.

Mr. Fearne argued that this current system “involved too much bureaucracy and many could not get access to the medications they needed.”

If approved, Mr. Fearne’s amendment would allow patients to get a prescription for medical marijuana without having to go through the lengthy process of attaining approval from a specialist.

“No products prescribed by a doctor can be used for smoking, and these products can only be purchased from a pharmacy using a control card.”
– Malta Health of Minister, Chris Fearne

Discussing the details of the amendment, Mr. Fearne explained how herbal forms of cannabis will remain banned:

“No products prescribed by a doctor can be used for smoking, and these products can only be purchased from a pharmacy using a control card.”

Mr Fearne added that Chris Cardona, Malta’s Economy Minister, would also be putting forward proposals which would allow the production of medical cannabis products within the country.

Imports of medical cannabis would only be allowed by licensed importers.