Czech Parliament Approves Medical Marijuana

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The Weed Blog

The Czech Republic’s lower house of Parliament has approved legislation to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. The bill still needs to be approved by the upper house to become law.

Politicians agreed that marijuana would initially be imported, and later grown locally by registered farms, reports RT.com.
Patients would need a doctor’s prescription to get cannabis at pharmacies, reports The Associated Press. Marijuana will not be covered by health insurance, and patients will not be allowed to grow it at home.
“The point of the proposal is to make medical marijuana accessible to patients that need it and that already use it today, even when it is against the law,” Pavel Bern, one of a group of deputies who wrote the bill, told Reuters.

The potential policy change comes after increasing evidence of marijuana’s beneficial effects for those suffering from cancer, Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses, Chris Johnstone at CzechPosition.com reported last year. More and more Czechs are growing cannabis and resorting to home remedies including it, due to the existing ban on its prescription and use.
Marijuana is the most popular recreational substance in the Czech Republic. Czech citizens are already allowed to possess and consume small amounts of cannabis, with possession of less than 15 grams currently being quasi-legal, reports Anne Sewell at Digital Journal.
By the way, Toke of the Town readers learned in September 2011 that this was going to happen by the end of 2012. 🙂
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