Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a bill that legalizes medical cannabis on Wednesday, reiterating his earlier stance on the issue, reported Reuters.
The move follows the Ukrainian Parliament successfully unblocking the approval of a medical marijuana legalization bill in January.
Ukraine’s unicameral parliament, the Verkhovna Rada’ passed the bill in December in a 248-16 vote. However, the measure hit a roadblock shortly thereafter when the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) parliamentary faction obstructed the bill’s approval.
The new law that mentions cancer and war-induced PTSD as conditions for which medical cannabis could be prescribed to patients, will become effective within six months of its formal publication. Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Ministry of Health will set up rules for the new program.
Cannabis products could potentially be imported earlier into the country, but not before cannabis transitions from a strictly prohibited substance under List I to legally accessible with a prescription under List II of Ukraine’s drug code, writes Marijuana Moment’s Kyle Jaeger.
In June 2023, Zelenskyy said Ukraine should undertake an effort to create the best mental and physical rehabilitation sector in Europe by building centers and educating personnel.
He said providing Ukrainian citizens with ways to deal with the pain, stress and trauma of the Russo-Ukrainian War that started in 2014. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“In particular, we must finally honestly legalize cannabis-based medicine for everyone who needs it, [with] the relevant scientific research and controlled Ukrainian manufacturing,” Zelensky said.
In the meantime, many soldiers are already using cannabis to cope with their pain
Daniel Rebar, an American combat medic serving in Ukraine told the Kyiv Independent last year that medical marijuana should be legally allowed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“We trust doctors with much more potent and serious medication than marijuana, I don’t know why we wouldn’t allow them to prescribe marijuana as well,” Rebar said.
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