EU is laying the groundwork for legalising medicinal cannabis

By Chris Bovey

As prohibition fails throughout the world the European Union is laying the groundwork for legalising medicinal cannabis.

A number of EU countries including Portugal, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark and Poland have legalised medicinal weed while some others allow the usage of cannabis-derived drugs such as Austria and also Belgium where up to 3 grams and one plant is decriminalised.

Of course, cannabis has been de facto legal in The Netherlands since the early 1970s, where it’s been legally sold in the nation’s famous coffee shops, although it’s still technically illegal for them to buy or transport it, yet evidently, this is not enforced. Despite efforts by the previous Christian Democrat government to curtail the sale of cannabis in Holland, it is still easy to obtain, especially in big cities like Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht.

Luxembourg to legalise recreational cannabis

In Luxembourg, where it is already decriminalised, lawmakers recently proposed to officially legalise recreational cannabis in the tiny European principality.

At the end of last year, European Parliament MEPs sitting in its Health Committee to approve a draft resolution on the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and now the proposals are going to become a concrete motion.

It is not possible for the EU to legalise cannabis, however, it can lay down a set of guidelines that each Member State can transpose into domestic law.

EU officials have just begun a formal study of the potential clinical benefits of medicinal cannabis and cannabis-derived medicines, and how they are available to patients across Europe.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) provided the first ever report on medicinal cannabis last month, which sought to answer the evidence base for the use of cannabis and cannabinoids in modern medicine, alongside providing definitions of cannabis medicinal products and preparations.

The EMCDDA Report

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction is changing its approach to medical cannabis.

The report was produced in response to more European countries developing policies in relation to medicinal and therapeutic benefits of cannabis.

The report states: ‘Many EU countries now allow or are considering allowing, the medical use of cannabis or cannabinoids in some form.’

However, the report added: “Approaches vary widely between countries, both in terms of the products permitted and the regulatory frameworks governing their provision”

The report declared terms “medical use of cannabis and cannabinoids” can refer to a wide variety of preparations and products which may contain a variety of active ingredients and use different routes of administration.

Europe’s cannabis industry is predicted to be worth €115.7bn ($132bn) by 2028, that makes it the world’s largest legal marijuana market.

The UK, which is potentially poised to crash out of the EU in a few weeks ironically has the largest cannabis grow-op in Europe and is not only the EU’s largest exporter of medical cannabis, it is the largest in the world.

To grow cannabis in the UK you need a license from the Home Office, which are rarely given, however, one was given to British Sugar to grow 45 acres of it in Norfolk, England, which is headed by the husband of the ruling Conservative’s prohibitionist Drugs Minister, Victoria Atkins MP.

The tonnes of weed grown by British Sugar are sold to G.W. Pharmaceuticals, which the British Prime Minister’s husband has a 22% in which is almost exclusively sold for the export market.

UK Conservatives protect their own Drug Cartel

Botched changes to the law on medical cannabis in the UK have allowed a tiny number of Brits who can afford a private prescription in the region of £1,000 a month may get access to a limited number Big Pharma cannabis-derived products, after all other options have been exhausted, while the rest of Brits face up to 14 years in prison if they dared to grow the same kind of cannabis that is grown and sold by people with dodgy connections to people at the highest echelons of the British government.

Would the main dealer in your city welcome competition? Of course not – they will murder, torture and rape everyone who gets in their way. Our dodgy government is no different – with key players’ noses in the trough it is no wonder they are unlikely to follow on with EU directives and instead maintain their monopoly. Of course, they don’t need to rape and murder to achieve that. Instead, they issue licenses to their spouses and imprison those who break laws of their own writing. Not a bad power to have for a kingpin drug lord.

Chris Bovey is a businessman, writer, artist, musician and practical joker. He lives in Devon with his partner, two children and cat. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter @ADHD_BadBoy.