Medical marijuana may become legal in Ukraine

Despite the ongoing confrontation with Russia, Ukraine's Health Minister, Viktor Liashko, said on June 7 that medical marijuana is officially legal. "There is no doubt that confrontation is detrimental to one's mental health." As a result of this exposure, we now know how many people will require medical attention. As a result, we are acutely aware that every second counts." The claimant announced it via a Facebook post.

Opponents of medical cannabis legalization in Ukraine purposely mix up the therapeutic characteristics of cannabis with illicit cannabis to cast doubt on its efficacy and harm public opinion on the drug's medical utility. This program will benefit patients receiving palliative care while also increasing medical research into cannabis.

The new law makes it simpler to obtain therapy for more than 50 maladies, including cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), brain conditions, and severe pain of neural origin (CPN). If medicinal marijuana is legalized, a medical cannabis monitoring system and a medical cannabis tracking system will be implemented to track all phases of the product's circulation.

Those with an electronic prescription from their doctor will be allowed to purchase medical marijuana. THC concentrations in medicinal cannabis products are established by the results of testing undertaken by both private and public entities.

The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in June 2021. Only a month later, Ukraine's parliament voted to reject it (also known as the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine).

While it was still a part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was one of the world's largest hemp growers. Industrial hemp was grown on hundreds of thousands of acres until the 1950s.

Dronabinol, Nabilone, and Nabiximols, a cannabis extract, were legalized in April 2021, two months before the House of Representatives introduced a medical marijuana bill. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's then-presidential candidate, conducted a nationwide poll in October 2020 and discovered that a huge majority of Ukrainians supported the legalization of medicinal marijuana. When asked if they favored the legalization of medical marijuana, 64.88 percent replied "yes," while 29.53 percent said "no."

According to Mr. Liashko's Facebook post, the Russia-Ukraine scenario has accelerated medical marijuana legalization. According to him, the bill will benefit individuals who have cancer or PTSD as a result of the war. As a result of the fighting, a substantial number of Ukrainians have suffered psychological harm. According to a study, it has already had a substantial impact on the mental health of children, teenagers, and the elderly.

Military personnel who have served for more than 100 days may benefit from medical marijuana as a method of therapy. Medications derived from medicinal cannabis may be useful in treating mental health concerns caused by the use of psychoactive chemicals that stimulate the human body, as well as anxiety and sleep problems.

The ability of medical cannabis to ease pain and give therapeutic advantages is one of the reasons the Ministry of Health is pressing Parliament to support the bill. Marijuana use for purposes other than medical purposes is still banned under Ukrainian law. Its manufacture, sale, and acquisition are all subject to civil and criminal penalties.