{"id":29394,"date":"2024-01-09T12:26:29","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T12:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabishealthnews.co.uk\/?p=29394"},"modified":"2024-01-09T16:00:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T16:00:09","slug":"spain-breaks-medical-cannabis-deadlock-as-new-health-minister-sparks-optimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabishealthnews.co.uk\/2024\/01\/09\/spain-breaks-medical-cannabis-deadlock-as-new-health-minister-sparks-optimism\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain breaks medical cannabis deadlock as new Health Minister sparks optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

As Spain emerges from months of political deadlock, its newly formed government has at last made a meaningful commitment to break the country\u2019s medical cannabis deadlock in turn.<\/h3>\n

Though his newly formed government has been hard won, sparking both protests in the streets of Spain and conflicts with Brussels, it puts in position a Minister of Health committed to making good on the previous administration\u2019s commitments to establish a medical cannabis framework in the country.<\/p>\n

According to Carola P\u00e9rez, president of the Spanish Observatory of Medicinal Cannabis (OECM), which continues to play a central role in the establishment of medical cannabis in Spain, this commitment marks a turning point in a now decade-long campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 10 years working on this, the day that I see the document signed is the day I will celebrate. But today is also a day of celebration, because we have someone who really cares about patients, she\u2019s also a specialist in pain,” she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really happy because (the government) have said that they are going to consult with us in order to make things as good as possible. This is the first time we have heard this from the Spanish government.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Last week, the newly appointed Minister of Health, M\u00f3nica Garc\u00eda G\u00f3mez, committed to rebooting the government\u2019s long-promised plans to regulate medical cannabis.<\/a><\/p>\n

Initially set to be implemented in January 2023, but repeatedly kicked into the long grass by the previous administration, then put indefinitely on the back burner since the snap election in July 2023, Ms Garc\u00eda is now understood to have brought the issue to the top of her agenda.<\/p>\n

According to local media sources, the health minister has met with the management team of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) regarding the draft Ministerial Order it was tasked with preparing back in 2022, set to lay out an initial framework for regulation.<\/p>\n

This draft has now reportedly been sent to the Ministry of Health, which has committed to holding a \u2018round of meetings with groups that have worked on the issue\u2019, primarily the OECM.<\/p>\n

Ms P\u00e9rez told us: \u201cWhen she arrived at her position, the first thing she said was that (she) wanted to push ahead with this, because we have been waiting a year for the document from the AEMPS.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrivately, we were beginning to think this document didn\u2019t exist, but I talked to the General Secretary of the Minister of Health and he told me that yes, the document exists.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe insisted the government was going to do this quickly, and they are going to consult with patients and experts. The previous government made promises, but we knew they were not going to do anything. Now we really believe that it\u2019s going to happen. This is different.\u201d<\/p>\n