On Wednesday, the European Parliament voted to advance a resolution that calls on the 28 member states to address the restrictions and barriers when it comes to studies on marijuana.
The members overwhelmingly called to identify research priorities and improve access to cannabis-based medicines.
The resolution “calls on Member States to allow doctors to make free use of their professional judgement in prescribing regulatory-approved cannabis-based medicines to patients with relevant conditions, and to allow pharmacists to lawfully honour those prescriptions.”
The resolution also urges countries to “improve equal access to cannabis-based medicines and to ensure that, where allowed, medicines which are effective in treating specific conditions are covered by health insurance schemes in the same way as other medicines” and to “provide a safe and equal choice for patients between different types of cannabis-based medicine, while ensuring that patients are accompanied by specialised medical professionals during their treatment.”
“A review of the existing scientific literature on the subject of cannabis used in a medical setting provides conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis and cannabinoids have therapeutic effects,” the resolution also said.
And “such as in the treatment of chronic pain in adults (e.g. in cancer disease cases), as anti-emetics for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting or for improving patient-reported multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms, and are effective in the treatment of patients with anxiety disorders, PTSD and depression.”
It argues that “the comprehensive and evidence-based regulation of cannabis-based medicines would translate into additional resources for public authorities, would limit the black market and ensure quality and accurate labelling to help control points of sale, would limit the access of this substance to minors, and would ensure legal certainty and safe access for patients for its medicinal use, with particular precautions being in place for young people and pregnant women.”
According to the assembly, members wrote that they “believe that there is substantial evidence that cannabis and cannabinoids have therapeutic effects for treating chronic pain in adults, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and improve muscle spasticity symptoms in multiple sclerosis.”
