One by one European countries now recognize the benefits of Cannabis for medical use and are following through with legalization. The latest addition of the UK and now the Baltic EU state of Lithuania following countries like Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Italy, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain.
Lithuania’s parliament passed a law last week allowing prescriptions of cannabis-based medicine in the Baltic to be enforced next spring. The UK passed a law this October as well, to take effect in November, allowing clinicians to prescribe medicinal products derived from the cannabis plant.
Lawmakers in Lithuania voted 90-0 with three abstentions in favor of the legislation that will now go to President Dalia Grybauskaite to be signed into law according to Medical Express. “It is a historic decision to ensure that patients can receive the best possible treatment,” said lawmaker Mykolas Majauskas who submitted the bill. The law will likely be enforced in May 2019.
Cannabis products that meet safety and quality standards will be reclassified in the UK by 1 November. According to the Guardian the changes in the UK come after high-profile cases involving children being denied access to cannabis oil to control epileptic seizures” The Guardian goes on to quote UK’s home secretary Sajid Javid’s written statement: “I have been clear that my intention was always to ensure that patients have access to the most appropriate course of medical treatment.”
Common connotation of the EU countries now legalizing Cannabis products for medical use are clear; for now, they are not endorsing or allowing recreational use of the plant, but rather ensuring that the best available medical care is available for their people.
The cannabis wave has arrived and hit the EU with full force, and with good reason as a growing number of researches are backing the plant’s medicinal qualities.