The new era in hemp in medicine

On August 1, 2022, hemp for medical use has been released from total prohibition and classified among controlled narcotics. From a legal point of view, this is a big step, because now there is no longer a need for exceptional permits for the prescription of hemp by doctors.

It is no longer necessary to obtain an exemption from the FOPH for each individual prescription, which eliminates a great deal of bureaucracy. But will doctors really make use of this new freedom?

Because officially the effect of cannabis medicines is not proven. Only Sativex is really approved and that only for the treatment of spasms in multiple sclerosis. So it takes some courage to enter uncharted territory and take responsibility for it. A legal door has opened, but it remains to be seen whether and how many will pass through it. In any case, we are very curious to see how this will develop!

In addition to the exceptional permits, costs were a major problem. This will continue to be the case: Because the tinctures are expensive and the health insurance companies still do not have to reimburse them (they are not on the list of specialties). Whether prescribed medical hemp flowers would be cheaper and could alleviate the problem is still open.

In the first few years, all prescriptions must be reported to the FOPH and flow into a database. From this data, it should then become clear for which diseases which drugs are suitable in which dosages. In this way, proof of efficacy is to be collected from practice. This could then also provide the basis for the assumption of costs by the health insurance companies.

Further developments can be found at:

• hanflegal.ch/medicalhemp

In the amendments to the ordinance, the total ban on hashish (even if it contains less than 1% THC) was lifted in passing. Hashish (cannabis resin) is now also prohibited only from a THC content of 1%.