Medical Cannabis Coming To Pharmacies In Spain?

Spain has long been home to one of the most vibrant and amazing cannabis communities on earth. Cannabis is relatively easy to acquire, and it’s some of the best cannabis on earth.

Unfortunately, Spain’s cannabis policies have yet to catch up to what is actually happening in society in the European country. Despite cannabis clubs being located in many parts of the country, they are still considered to be operating in a legal gray area at best, or outright illegal at the national level at worst.

Medical cannabis policy is particularly wonky in Spain, in that there are licensed medical cannabis producers, however, they are currently only allowed to export their products or use them to supply research.

Completely legal safe access has remained elusive in Spain, however, that appears to be changing soon, at least to some extent. Per LaCerca:

The medical cannabis subcommittee of the Congress of Deputies has given its endorsement this Tuesday to the regulation of this substance for therapeutic purposes with the votes in favor of PSOE, United We Can, Citizens, PNV and PDeCAT, the abstention of ERC and Bildu, and the vote against PP and VOX.

One of the most important novelties in the conclusions of the subcommittee is that the door is opened to the dispensing of medical cannabis in community pharmacies, as demanded, for example, by United We Can and more groups on the left.

The PSOE has had to give in on this point, since they limited it to hospital pharmacies. The final text establishes that the distribution will be with magisterial formulas with standardized cannabis extracts or preparations, which should be delivered “from the health system pharmacy network, preferably in hospital pharmacies and exploring the alternative of community pharmacies that can meet the requirements.

What is currently being proposed in Spain will serve as a band-aid versus being a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s approach to medical cannabis.

Even if medical cannabis products were available at every pharmacy in the country, the types of products being proposed, ‘standardized cannabis extracts and preparations,’ are only helpful to a small percentage of suffering patients.

Furthermore, the list of qualified conditions currently being floated out there is very limited. A vast majority of patients are likely to keep going the same route that they have in the past when it comes to acquiring medical cannabis in Spain.