Spain Will Regulate Medical Cannabis by the End of This Year

Spain is taking the plunge: cannabis for therapeutic purposes should be distributed by pharmacies by the end of this year. The approved list of conditions, while limited, has been expanded from an even smaller list that was initially proposed. As with other restricted medicines, patients seeking access to medical cannabis in Spain will need to obtain a prescription from their doctor.

The Special Committee on Health of the Spanish Congress of Deputies approved a text last Monday that gives the green light to the regulation of cannabis for therapeutic purposes in Spain. The measure, which gave rise to negotiations between political parties, counted on the support of the PSOE, Unidas Podemos, Ciudadanos, PNV, and PDeCAT. The ERC and Bildu parties abstained, while Vox and the Partido Popular opposed the project.

What Forms of Cannabis Will Spain Legalize?

The marketing of cannabis derivatives for therapeutic purposes in Spain has nothing to do with the legalization of cannabis in all its forms: do not believe that it will be possible to obtain a medical prescription to be able to smoke a joint, far from it. The project plans to make certain cannabis-derived medicines accessible to consumers. These are formulas using particular active components of the plant to fight against chronic pain. The inhalation of the cannabis flower (by vaporization) still seems to be excluded. Smoking the plant also remains totally prohibited.

Who Will Spain Grant Access To Cannabis?

Doctors in Spain will prescribe cannabis-based treatments, and the public targeted by these prescriptions will also be extremely limited: not all pain or pathologies are eligible to be treated with therapeutic cannabis.

Initially, the text studied by the commission contemplated using cannabis only for patients with multiple sclerosis, convulsions, or certain forms of epilepsy. Finally, after the debate between the parties concluded, the prescriptions were extended. Patients in Spain suffering from a list of other conditions, such as endometriosis, oncological pain, or nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy treatments, will also be given access.

In general, this type of substance can help patients suffering from severe chronic pain: it is estimated that around eight million people are victims. But beware, this does not mean that medical cannabis will be the solution to be prescribed for everyone. Instead, each patient and each pathology must be studied on a case-by-case basis.

From Where and From When?

The Congress of Deputies validated a report on the use and control of this type of substance in order to ask the Ministry of Health to authorize the marketing of medicinal products derived from the cannabis plant in Spain. It is now the Spanish Medicines Agency that is in charge of integrating these new measures into the current regulations, and this within six months.

The document validated by Congress recommends that medical cannabis be distributed by pharmacies in the public health system in Spain, preferably by so-called hospital pharmacies.

Spain, therefore, joins the list of European countries in which cannabis for therapeutic purposes is legal. Since the WHO revised the classification of cannabis in 2020, the number of countries authorizing medical cannabis has continued to increase. The therapeutic cannabis market is now booming, with annual growth estimated at a minimum of 20% per year until 2026. According to specialists, the medical cannabis market will exceed 25.5 billion euros by four years.

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(Featured image by Nataliya Vaitkevich via Pexels)

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