21/08/2007 00:00:00
Germany Allows Patient Legal Use of Cannabis
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A patient suffering from multiple sclerosis has been legally allowed to
buy cannabis at the pharmacy under strict conditions. It's the first
time Germany has permitted the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Germany' Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday that the German Federal
Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices for the first time approved the
application of a 51-year-old woman suffering from multiple sclerosis to
legally buy cannabis from a pharmacy to ease her symptoms.
The approval is linked to strict restrictions, but starting at the end
of August, the woman, Claudia H, is allowed to buy a "standardized
extract" from the cannabis plant from the pharmacy for a year. A doctor
has to monitor the therapy. In addition, both the patient and the
pharmacy have to store the drug extracts in a safe so to prevent theft.
Cannabis shown to ease pain
According to the Munich-based paper, several scientific studies show
that cannabis can ease pain and spasms often associated with multiple
sclerosis, a debilitating nerve ailment. It's also known to prevent
weight loss among cancer and AIDS patients.
So far, cannabis has been illegal in Germany -- only possession of small
amounts of the drug are allowed -- and its use for medicinal purposes
limited to scientific studies and aims that "are in the public interest."
Doctors so far can only prescribe the synthetically-produced Dronabinol,
which is an active ingredient in cannabis. But since the substance isn't
approved as a medicine in Germany, the medicine's costs aren't covered
by health insurance. In contrast, the price of the direct cannabis
medicine is expected to be much cheaper.
Cannabis remains illegal
In 2005, a court ruling threw into question the complete ban on cannabis
for medicinal purposes. The German Federal Administrative Court ruled
that the health of individual patients also lay in "the public
interest." That means that the Bonn-based Federal Institute for Drugs
and Medical Devices now has to consider each application for use of
cannabis for medicinal purposes on a case-by-case basis.
Despite Tuesday's landmark decision to allow cannabis for treatment, the
drug remains illegal in future. Patients who acquire it on their own
risk prosecution. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported of a case last week
when a local court sentenced a hepatitis-C patient for possession of
cannabis to a year in prison without bail.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2746463,00.html
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12806
Author:
DW-World via UKCIA
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