German Draft Medical Cannabis Amendment Would Harm Patients
Longtime medical cannabis advocates, myself included, have pointed out for many years that a jurisdiction’s medical cannabis model is only as good as the level of safe access that it provides to suffering patients. That is a true statement, including in Germany, where a draft amendment to the country’s Medical Cannabis Act (MedCanG) was recently released.
As drafted, the amendment would negatively impact safe access in Germany, and the nation’s medical cannabis patients would suffer as a result. The proposed changes contained within the draft amendment include:
- Mandatory in-person doctor consultations
- A ban on mail-order medical cannabis dispensing
- Stricter rules for medical cannabis prescriptions
The changes are being proposed by Germany’s Ministry of Health despite the effectiveness and safety of telemedicine services. Given German Health Minister Nina Warken’s recent negative comments about German medical cannabis since assuming her current position, what is being proposed is not surprising, but no less unfortunate.
German medical cannabis telemedicine services help the nation’s most vulnerable patients, including rural patients who live far away from doctors, disabled patients who often cannot travel to complete in-person consultations, and low income patients who may be able-bodied and yet cannot afford to travel to a physical doctors office or pay extra for a doctor to travel to them for in-person consultations.
All of those limitations also apply to the ongoing logistics of acquiring medical cannabis products for the suffering patients who can overcome the arbitrary additional hurdles and gain initial approval from a doctor.
What is being proposed will place significant burdens on patients who just want to have safe access to effective medications, and if the draft amendment provisions are approved, many will be forced to either go without medical cannabis altogether or seek out unregulated alternatives. According to a recent survey conducted by Bloomwell Group, many medical cannabis patients will choose the latter.
Frankfurt-based Bloomwell Group, Europe’s largest digital platform for medical cannabis-based therapies, surveyed more than 2,500 current medical cannabis patients in Germany. Below are some of the key findings from the survey results:
- 41.7% of patients would revert to the unregulated market if telemedicine were prohibited
- Only 7% would consider joining one of Germany’s adult-use cannabis clubs
- 79% of patients previously relied on unregulated sources prior to benefitting from telemedicine options
- 47.5% of survey participants indicated that cannabis obtained from pharmacies is less expensive compared to unregulated sources
- 83% believe medical cannabis from pharmacies is of higher quality than unregulated alternatives
“Respondents in the latest survey have yet again voiced significant concerns about illegal products. However, the majority said that if digital access were restricted—as currently proposed by some politicians—they would have no alternative except to return to obtaining their cannabis from illicit sources.” stated Dr. Julian Wichmann, Co-Founder and CEO of Bloomwell GmbH.
“Ironically, the allegations of misuse relate to prescription medication, where limiting digital access would have only negative consequences—for patients, the economy, the justice system, the state, and public health.” Dr. Wichmann continued.
“At the same time, we see consistent, widespread misuse of numerous other prescription drugs with high dependency potential and serious side effects — but there is currently no comparable evidence that pharmacy-grade medical cannabis poses the same risks. From a medical perspective, a re-criminalization of hundreds of thousands of cannabis patients must be avoided at all costs.” Dr. Wichmann also stated.
“A majority of Germans now support full legalization, and the medical benefits of cannabis are widely accepted across all social strata. The premise that politicians are seriously considering slowing digital innovation in an already overburdened healthcare system, re-criminalizing patients, threatening jobs, and forfeiting tax revenue is beyond absurd—and would be laughable if the consequences for patients and public health weren’t so serious.” stated Niklas Kouparanis, Co-Founder and CEO of Bloomwell Group.
If there is one silver lining to be had right now, it is that the process is not over, and there currently is no final decision. There is still time for medical cannabis advocates to prevent the drastic changes from gaining final approval, which was touched on by leading German cannabis policy expert attorney Peter Homberg of gunnercooke in an interview this week with krautinvest (I encourage everyone to read the interview on krautinvest.de in its entirety).
“I can’t imagine this draft bill being passed in its current form. In my view, it represents the Federal Ministry of Health’s maximum demands, which go far beyond the actual goal.” Peter Homberg said (translated from German to English) in the interview in response to krautinvest’s question, “In your opinion, how realistic is it that these changes will be implemented?”
Mr. Homberg would go on to explain that some changes to Germany’s medical cannabis rules and regulations will likely occur, but not everything that is being proposed in the recently released draft amendment.
“I can imagine that the SPD, as part of the coalition, will work quite hard to prevent this law from being implemented in this form. After all, its contents are counterproductive to what the government implemented during the last legislative period: comprehensive patient care with high-quality cannabis products from pharmacies.” Mr. Homberg also stated in the interview.
The release of the Ministry of Health’s draft amendment comes on the heels of the first findings surfacing from the Evaluation of the Consumer Cannabis Act (EKOCAN) project. The project manager for the EKOCAN research effort, Dr. Jakob Manthey, indicated that many of the concerns expressed by cannabis opponents about cannabis legalization over the last year are proving to be unfounded, at least so far.
All medical cannabis advocates in Germany are encouraged to contact the lawmakers who represent them and let them know that these aggressions against medical cannabis patients will not stand. Educate them on the benefits of telemedicine and the negative impact the proposed changes will have on suffering patients.
If you are a suffering patient who benefits from Germany’s current medical cannabis model, tell your lawmaker that, and urge them to oppose the draft amendment. The future of safe access in Germany depends on it.
