Medicinal Cannabis might soon become available in Spanish pharmacies in 2022 as a subcommittee within the Spanish congress on medicinal cannabis has approved a final report that will control and regulate the therapeutic use of the plant. The report was endorsed by several political parties and coalitions, including the ruling Socialist Party of Spain (PSOE), the Democratic Party of Catalan, United We Can, and the Basque Nationalist Party.
However, some of the major political parties in the country, such as the Basque Nationalist Party Bildu and the Esquerra Republicana in the province of Catalunya, opted not to vote for the project. Political parties such as the conservative and the extreme-right parties – the popular Party and Vox voted against the approval of the report.
ABC reported that Agencia Espanola del Medicamento (Spanish Medicines Agency) would be charged with adjusting the present regulations of the subcommittee. The congressional subcommittee predicts that cannabis for medicinal use will be available in Spanish pharmacies before 2022 runs out.
The report said, “The dispensing of magisterial formulas with standardized cannabis extracts or preparations must be carried out with the health system pharmacy network, preferably in hospital pharmacies and exploring the alternative of community pharmacies that may meet the requirements.”
The medicinal cannabis will be available to a set of patients, including those who suffer from multiple sclerosis, some forms of epilepsy, cancer pain, nausea as a result of chemotherapy, endometriosis, and chronic non-cancer pain (including neuropathic pain). The categories of people eligible for medical marijuana will be extended to other therapeutic uses following consistent medical studies.
The subcommittee also recommended that the situation be re-evaluated annually after the political parties have reached an agreement regarding the use of cannabis for the development of medical experiments. Despite this huge achievement, the announcement stressed that the availability and consumption of non-medical cannabis should be avoided.
According to the Spanish representatives, “It is necessary to prevent the use of cannabis extracts or preparations from being confused with a generic invocation of the general use of cannabis by the population.”
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