The changes to the decree on the classification of illicit drugs place cannabis from the group of harmful substances that are not used in medicine to the group of plants and substances that can be harmful, but can be used in medicine.

Up until now, only extracts from the cannabis plant and synthetic cannabinoids were okayed for use in medicine. This means that doctors will be able to prescribe the plant under guidelines set up by professionals in individual branches of medicine, such as paediatrics and neurology.

The Medical Chamber already started training doctors in prescribing cannabis in additional treatment of diseases such as cancer, MS, epilepsy and glaucoma.

The government stressed that the decree did not change the rules on production of cannabis. Production thus remains prohibited, but the Health Ministry has already begun drafting changes to the law on production of and trade in illicit drugs, the government recently told the STA.

However, these changes require cooperation of several ministries and must be based on clear goals the state wants to achieve with them, it added.

The changes also do not apply to industrial hemp, which contains less than 0.2% of THC, the government added.