Greek MEP Stelios Kouloglou has called on the European Commission (EC) to address the lack of a legislative framework for medical cannabis, which leaves patients dependent on the illegal market. Although Greece was one of the first European countries to legalize medical cannabis in 2017, six years later Greek patients are still unable to access legal products.
In 2018, a broader law was introduced allowing the cultivation of cannabis products with THC content above 0.3%, but domestic production has been slow.
Then, in November 2021, the Greek government banned the importation of cannabis products, which according to local sources constitutes a “violation of the fundamental principles of the EU” under Article 28 of the treaty of the EU, namely the free movement of goods between Member States.
As a result, thousands of patients still rely on cannabis obtained from the illegal market or grown on their own to treat serious medical conditions.
In his question to the European Commission on Tuesday 5 December, Mr Kouloglou called on officials to look into this issue and the need for a European legislative framework for medical cannabis which would “effectively limit the black market, regulate the quality and accuracy of labeling and would ensure legal and safe access to medicinal products for medical use.”
“The use of cannabis for medical purposes is universally accepted,” he said.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) is proposing to prescribe it for a wide range of pathologies and the European Parliament has called on European and national authorities to address the issue legislatively, to fund research and innovation and to provide information to healthcare professionals. »
“Medical cannabis has been legalized in Greece since 2017, for the cultivation and production of products with a THC content above 0.3%, but patients currently do not have access to the formulations and the few national investment sources were slow to produce. »
Kouloglou added: “Furthermore, in November 2021, the Greek government banned the importation of medical cannabis products, in violation of Article 28 of the TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), creating thus oligopolistic conditions in the country. As a result, patients have been forced to resort to the illegal market to treat many health problems.”
In January, Tikun Olam Europe, a subsidiary of Israeli cannabis company Tikun Olam, announced that operations had begun at Greece’s first medicinal cannabis production facility.
The first flower-based products were to be available at the end of 2023, or even later in 2024.
Patients and families remain “criminals
Jacqueline Poitras, founder of the Greek patient advocacy association MAMAKA, which has been heavily involved in the campaign for the legalization of medical cannabis, said it was time for the EU to tackle the ” inequality” of access.
“It is time for the European Parliament and the Commission to address the issue of equal access for patients in all states of the European Union,” she told Cannabis Health.
“The inequality between Member States regarding medicinal cannabis legislation is a direct violation of the spirit and laws that govern patients’ rights within the European Union – each country has been left to its own devices -itself and the responsibility for change rests squarely on the shoulders of patients. »
Ms Poitras added: “In Greece, six years of ‘legal medical use’ have failed to provide legal products to more than a handful of patients. The government’s import ban has done nothing to protect local investors – it has simply extended the period during which families and patients remain criminals.”
