Ukraine looks set to legalise medical cannabis

Ukraine’s Health Minister says the Government intends to approve a bill to legalise cannabis for medical purposes, despite the war with Russia raging on.

In a Facebook post on 7 June, Health Minister Viktor Liashko, said there was “no time to wait” to approve a bill which would see the regulation of medical cannabis amid the ongoing conflict.

The Ukrainian Government is said to have advanced a bill for approval to regulate “the circulation of cannabis plants for medical, industrial purposes, scientific and scientific-technical activities”.

It is hoped that this would allow more patients to access this “necessary treatment for cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the war.”

Liashko wrote: “We understand the negative effects of war on mental health. We understand the number of people who will need medical treatment as a result of this exposure.

“And we understand that there is no time to wait.

“Therefore, we have already prepared a legislative basis to ensure the full cycle of production of cannabis-based drugs in Ukraine: from cultivation and processing to full-fledged production.”

He also highlighted campaigns in the country which have tried to “deliberately equate cannabis-based drugs with illicit cannabis, in order to undermine its value as a medicine” and stated that “cannabis drugs are not ‘competitors’” to recreational drugs.

Medical cannabis for PTSD

Medical cannabis is increasingly being prescribed in other countries for the treatment of a wide range of conditions, including chronic pain, anxiety and PTSD. 

Military veterans have reported anecdotally how helpful the medicine has been for easing the symptoms of PTSD and physical injuries following conflict. 

A recent study in the US found that over 70 per cent of veterans in a small focus group, were in remission from PTSD following 90 days of treatment with cannabis. 

Elsewhere, researchers in Canada found that medical cannabis treatment “significantly benefited” both quality of life and symptoms in patients with PTSD and chronic pain.

Strict regulations 

However, Liashko has assured Ukrainian citizens that the government will establish strict regulations over the cultivation, production and sale of cannabis.

He added: “We still propose to establish strict control over the cultivation, production and sale of drugs, understanding the sensitivity of this issue in society and ready to gradually develop this industry, showing the results of treatment and care to Ukrainian patients.”

The Kyiv Post has reported that a draft bill on the use of medical cannabis, failed to be approved by the Ukrainian Parliament on 13 July 2021 and was sent for reworking.

The bill now needs at least 226 votes to be approved.

• Trump’s cannabis bill welcomed
• Medical cannabis access bill set for second reading in Parliament
• Jeff Ditchfield: “The only thing I see as wrong, is denying someone medicine they need”
• UK charities to join calls for medical cannabis access
• Medical cannabis campaigners share anger at reading of new bill in parliament