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Spain to approve more widespread use of medicinal cannabis
At the moment, the drug can only be prescribed to multiple sclerosis and epilepsy patients in Spain
The Spanish Ministry of Health has initiated the process of regulating medicinal cannabis so that it can be used to treat more ailments. Following Congress approval back in 2022, the drug is allowed to be prescribed for multiple sclerosis and epilepsy only.
However, a report which is now being closely examined by decision makers shows five other potential uses for medicinal cannabis: inhibition of nausea and vomiting in cancer patients; enhancing appetite and reducing weight loss in cancer and AIDS patients; pain relief, particularly for chronic, neuropathic, oncological, migraine and postoperative pain; reducing muscle rigidity in conditions such as multiple sclerosis; and seizure control in epilepsies resistant to other treatments.
It is important to note that the approval of the drug does not imply that the sale of marijuana for pain relief will be permitted. Instead, it will be available in pharmaceutical formulations, primarily dispensed through hospitals, and will only be prescribed by specialist physicians treating the relevant pathologies.
Additionally, medicinal cannabis will not be considered a first-line treatment option, but rather a secondary alternative when other therapies have proven ineffective.
Congress will also request that a centralised registry of patients treated with cannabis be set up, so that their progress can be monitored and in order to “prevent the therapeutic use of standardised cannabis extracts or preparations intended for patients with specific indications from being confused with an invocation to the general use of cannabis by the population.”
The Ministry of Health has argued that the regulation better aligns Spain with nearby countries like Portugal, the UK and Norway, which have less stringent laws regarding the use of medicinal cannabis.
Moreover, it also positions Spain in line with the World Health Organization and the United Nations, which recognise the therapeutic potential of these compounds. In Israel and Canada, two of the most advanced countries in regulation, between 0.6% and 0.7% of their inhabitants use it, which when applied to Spain could benefit more than 200,000 people. But this number will ultimately depend on the specific applications for which the drug gets authorised in this country.
In other news: Spain approves new mortgage guarantees for under-35s
Image: Freepik
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