Marijuana coming of age

Toledo voters recently approved a measure to have penalties for possession of marijuana reduced to the state required minimum, effectively decriminalizing having small amounts of the herb. Also, in November Ohioans will vote on a statewide ballot initiative that would legalize recreational as well as medical use of cannabis. 

Weed: What is it good for?

In Poland where marijuana is still illegal, there is one medicine containing active marijuana substances used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The drug, Sativex, can be prescribed by a doctor but is not reimbursed by the Polish National Health Service (NFZ).

The Government now allows such medicines to be specially imported into Poland. These drugs can be used if they can be proved to help save the life or health of the patient, and the legitimacy of such requirements is confirmed by a professional consultant. 

Three bills are currently being discussed in the Sejm (lower house of parliament) in relation to the use of therapeutic marijuana. Two of them deal with treatments involving hemp oil. A third, proposed by deputy Speaker Wanda Nowicka,  would stop making it a crime to cultivate and harvest marijuana for healing and personal use – in accordance with a documented physician's prescription, in quantities not exceeding the demand for a maximum of 90 days’ use.

Recently, the Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw banned a doctor who ran experimental cannabis-based treatment of epilepsy in children from pursuing his work. In the State of Colorado several children have had positive results from such therapy.