Finally: Cannabis is a cure without ifs and buts

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No more exemption permits needed for prescribing cannabis by physicians. The National Council has facilitated the medical use of hemp products with an amendment to the law.

The large chamber of the federal parliament approved today, Tuesday, the proposal of its health commission to allow the medical prescription of cannabis without an exceptional license. In the future, patients will be able to benefit from the medicinal effects of hemp products without unnecessary administrative hurdles.

The Council rejected three minority motions. One from the SVP faction who wanted to prohibit doctors from prescribing cannabis for smoking. A second motion from the same corner wanted to require patients to carry their prescription. The third motion came from the ranks of the Greens. The latter wanted to enshrine the cultivation of cannabis at home as an option.

IG Hemp and the MEDCAN association had pointed out in advance that the SVP motion to ban smoking should be rejected, as smoking cannabis produces the best results for certain diseases. The Council has refrained from interfering with physicians’ freedom to prescribe. On the other hand, IG Hemp would have welcomed the possibility of self-cultivation. This, to provide chronically ill individuals with limited financial resources a way to legally alleviate their symptoms. For the time being, patients will have to pay for cannabis medicines themselves.

IG Hemp expressly welcomes the amendment to the law and sees it as an important step towards a more sensible approach to the hemp plant and its many benefits.

Left:
https://ighanf.ch/news-und-stories/

Historic decision of the UN and the European Court of Justice

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UN complies with WHO recommendation to reassess cannabis classification

Two positive decisions on cannabis bode well for international cannabis policy.

European Court of Justice: CBD is not a narcotic drug

After we reported last time that the EU Commission is considering making all hemp extracts – including natural CBD products – subject to narcotics law, a decision by the European Court of Justice now lets us breathe a sigh of relief. The ECJ informed that a member state of the European Union may not prohibit the marketing of cannabidiol (CBD) lawfully produced in another member state if it is extracted from the whole cannabis sativa plant and not only from its fibers and seeds. The court thus follows the WHO recommendation that CBD should not be classified as a drug for the purposes of international narcotics conventions.

However, the really big bang that could make history came from the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. UN Commission agrees to re-evaluate cannabis! This can contribute significantly to simplifying the legal handling of cannabis worldwide. The Commission is thus complying with the WHO recommendation that cannabis no longer be classified as a dangerous drug. Under international treaties such as the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, cannabis has previously been listed on Schedule 4 – with the adoption of WHO Recommendation 5.1, cannabis will now be downgraded to Schedule 1.

Sources and further links:
European Court of Justice: Press release
Hanf Magazin: European Court of Justice: CBD is not a narcotic drug
Marjuana Business Daily: United Nations approves WHO recommendation to reschedule cannabis in historic vote
Hemp Magazine: UN Commission agrees to re-evaluation of cannabis

All eyes on Brussels

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Decision of the EU Commission could harm the hemp industry

While on the one hand a lot of educational work is happening around the topic of hemp and cannabinoids, new scientific findings on the benefits of hemp and hemp extracts are being obtained, the EU Commission is currently considering including hemp extracts in general in the narcotics law. Cannabiniol (CBD) as well as any other hemp extracts are to be classified – on a par with THC – as an addictive substance if it is extracted from natural hemp plants. Synthetic CBD, ironically, would still be allowed.

“The spokesperson for the EU Commission in Germany has confirmed to us that there are considerations to evaluate CBD as a narcotic in the sense of the 1961 United Nations Single Convention. This is currently called “Preliminary View”. After that, CBD would be a so-called “addictive substance” and could also no longer be used as a dietary supplement in the future.”

Dr. Stefan Meyer, President of the new industry association Cannabiswirtschaft BvCW e. V., according to krautinvest.

Such a decision would have disastrous effects on the hemp industry in Europe:

“Almost the entire CBD industry in Europe would face “extinction.” Hemp farmers, import/export, extractors, producers, distributors, retailers, and many more.”

Dr. Stefan Meyer, president of the new industry association Cannabiswirtschaft BvCW e. V., according to cannatrust.eu

There is still no definitive decision in Brussels. And it is equally uncertain how the federal authorities in Bern will react. Because in this country, the Federal Parliament has just approved a pilot of a new more liberal cannabis regulation of cities, which includes THC hemp – so a development that rather steers towards legalization.

The last words have not yet been spoken in Brussels – and certainly not in Bern.

Sources and further links:
IGHanf: The CBD distribution stop – The position of the EIHA
IGHanf: Death blow for the hemp sector?
krautinvest: Unease about hemp extracts: Classification as narcotic?
Cannatrust.eu: Threatening EU decision: Hemp as a narcotic?