A bill to legalize medical marijuana in Ukraine has cleared a key legislative hurdle, advancing through committee and now awaiting final passage by the country\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n
After receiving initial consideration in July, the cannabis legislation was finalized and approved in the National Health, Medical Care and Health Insurance Committee on Tuesday. It is now expected to receive final approval in the unicameral legislature, known as the Verkhovna Rada, before potentially going to the president.<\/p>\n
The bill would create a national medical marijuana program to provide access to patients with conditions such as cancer or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from war\u2014a proposed reform that comes as Ukraine continues to experience violent conflict after Russian invaded the country last year.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian MP Olga Stefanyshyna said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that nearly 1,000 amendments were offered before the committee agreed to refer the legislation to second and final reading in the parliament.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe did everything [so that] patients could get their medicine as soon as possible,\u201d she said, according to a translation. \u201cSo far medical cannabis has not entered in the history of Ukraine. Waiting for the 2nd reading, we believe it will work this time!\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not clear how the bill was revised in committee. The timing for a second reading vote is also currently uncertain.<\/p>\n
Also, while the text of the legislation<\/a> as introduced only explicitly lists<\/a> cancer and war-borne PTSD as conditions for which medical cannabis could be dispensed to patients, the chair of the health committee said in July that lawmakers hear daily from patients with other illnesses such as Alzheimer\u2019s disease and epilepsy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe understand that today there are more than two million people in Ukraine who desperately need medicinal cannabis preparations,\u201d Chairman Mykhailo Radutskyi, whose panel advanced<\/a> the bill this week, said<\/a>. \u201cWe realize that there will be even more such people after the end of the war, in particular, such medicines are needed by the wounded, defenders with PTSD.\u201d<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s health minister, Viktor Lyashko, said in a press release on Wednesday that the legislation will provide medical cannabis access for cancer patients and people with \u201cmany other diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe draft law No. 7457 will make it possible to realize the right of every patient to medical care, relieve the pain and suffering of millions of people, and improve the quality of life for many diseases and conditions,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cAt the same time, it is only about the medical and not the recreational use of cannabis-based drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced support for medical marijuana legalization in June<\/a>, stating in an address to the parliament that \u201call the world\u2019s best practices, all the most effective policies, all the solutions, no matter how difficult or unusual they may seem to us, must be applied in Ukraine so that Ukrainians, all our citizens, do not have to endure the pain, stress and trauma of war.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn particular, we must finally fairly legalize cannabis-based medicines for all those who need them, with appropriate scientific research and controlled Ukrainian production,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n During his presidential campaign, Zelensky also voiced support for medical cannabis legalization,\u00a0saying<\/a>\u00a0in 2019 that he feels it would be \u201cnormal\u201d to allow people to access cannabis \u201cdroplets,\u201d which is possibly a reference to marijuana tinctures.<\/p>\n The policy change would put Ukraine is stark contrast to its long-time aggressor Russia, which has taken a particularly strong stance\u00a0against reforming cannabis policy at the international level<\/a>\u00a0through the United Nations. The country has condemned Canada for legalizing marijuana nationwide.<\/p>\n Feds Clarify That Doctor-Recommended Medical Marijuana Is No Excuse For A Positive THC Test Under New Workplace Guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Ukrainian Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill In Committee, Putting It One More Vote From Zelensky\u2019s Desk<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A bill to legalize medical marijuana in Ukraine has cleared a key legislative hurdle, advancing through committee and now awaiting final passage by the country\u2019s parliament. After receiving initial consideration in July, the cannabis legislation was finalized and approved in the National Health, Medical Care and Health Insurance Committee onContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69214"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69215,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69214\/revisions\/69215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Ukrainian Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill In Committee, Putting It One More Vote From Zelensky\u2019s Desk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"