{"id":29294,"date":"2023-11-28T10:55:12","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T10:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabishealthnews.co.uk\/?p=29294"},"modified":"2023-11-28T10:55:15","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T10:55:15","slug":"ukraines-medical-cannabis-legalisation-delayed-by-opponents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabishealthnews.co.uk\/2023\/11\/28\/ukraines-medical-cannabis-legalisation-delayed-by-opponents\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine\u2019s medical cannabis legalisation delayed by opponents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Via Business of Cannabis\u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s bid to legalise medical cannabis appeared to be on the cusp of a significant breakthrough this week, but defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory and the bill has now been effectively \u2018blocked\u2019.<\/h3>\n

Despite widespread support throughout the country, including from President Zelenskyy, opponents of the bill have been accused of delaying the final vote by cluttering the process with \u2018spam\u2019 amendments.<\/p>\n

While the next steps remain unclear, the bill\u2019s proponents have committed to \u2018finding a solution\u2019 and \u2018pushing this through\u2019 for the sake of the millions of Ukrainian citizens who potentially stand to benefit from medical cannabis.<\/a><\/p>\n

What happened?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ukraine\u2019s Verkhovna Rada, the country\u2019s unicameral parliament and supreme legislative body, was poised to pass a bill legalising medical cannabis this week.<\/p>\n

After the bill passed its first reading in July, on 10 October the proposed legislation was finalised and approved by the National Health, Medical Care and Health Insurance Committee, enabling the bill to progress to a second and final reading in the Verkhovna Rada.<\/p>\n

Prior to the draft laws\u2019 passage in October,\u00a0the government reports that \u2018more than 800 amendments\u2019 were\u00a0<\/a>put forward.<\/p>\n

Further proposals are understood to have arrived from the Health Ministry and members of the committee following this, which were considered on November 04, before the committee submitted the new Draft Bill #7457 to parliament.<\/p>\n

A second reading was scheduled to take place on Wednesday November 22, and the bill was widely expected to sail through.<\/p>\n

According to a\u00a0Kyiv Post<\/i><\/a>\u00a0report from earlier this month, chairman of the Standing Committee on National Health, Medical Aid and Medical Insurance, Mykhailo Radutsky, believed an \u2018overwhelming majority\u2019 of lawmakers from his faction were supportive of the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have done explanatory work with them and made amendments and corrections to the draft bill for the second reading, so now I think the majority of lawmakers will support it.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Ukraine\u2019s battle for medical cannabis \u2013 the campaigners on the frontline<\/a><\/p>\n

Sabotage<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Despite this, the second reading did not take place as scheduled this week, and it is reportedly being \u2018blocked\u2019 by a single opposition party.<\/p>\n

MP of the Spravedlyvist party and member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Olga Stefanyshina, took to social media to voice her frustrations.<\/p>\n

Pictured with a stack of 882 amendments put forward by MPs, which the committee has reportedly been \u2018analysing for over three months taking into account the most sensible ones\u2019, she suggested that 226 of these amendments were \u2018a coffin\u2019, designed specifically to stop the bill in its tracks.<\/p>\n