Spanish Medical Cannabis Subcommittee Holds First Hearing
Spain is a truly amazing place, especially when it comes to being a cannabis consumer. The European nation is absolutely beautiful, and cannabis is very easy to acquire if you know where to look.
Barcelona, where we recently held our first conference of the year, is a particularly fantastic place to be a cannabis consumer. Barcelona is home to more private cannabis clubs than anywhere else in Spain.
Unfortunately, Spain’s cannabis laws are in need of a lot of improvement. Cannabis may be decriminalized in Spain, and cannabis may be easy to acquire, however, many suffering patients still need better access to medical cannabis and selective enforcement needs to be mitigated via setting up a legal, equitable industry framework.
A key subcommittee tasked with exploring medical cannabis reform and regulations finally met in Spain, which will hopefully help yield future movement. Per ConSalud.es (translated to English):
The subcommission for the purpose of carrying out experiments in the regulation of cannabis for medicinal use , created in the Congress of Deputies to study a possible regulation in Spain, has hosted the first session of appearances on Tuesday. As approved by this commission a few weeks ago, there will be 26 experts who will tell their experience on this matter until the end of June.
Among the most outstanding is that of Manuel Ibarra Lorente , head of the Drug Inspection and Control Department of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) , who has provided the technical vision of the regulatory body in Spain, of its possible regulation. of the authorized clinical trials with cannabinoids and about the doubts that currently exist.
During the subcommittee meeting, Ibarra expressed doubt regarding the notion that “cannabis has multiple therapeutic benefits in many other indications: relief of chronic pain, prevention of nausea and vomiting, as an appetite stimulant, reducing depression, anxiety or disorders of the dream.”
Ibarra is pushing for a very controlled and regulated medical cannabis industry in Spain, and even then, only after a considerable amount of further research is conducted. Hopefully fellow committee members are listening to other sources, and not solely relying on Ibarra’s opinion.
It would be a much faster and more efficient approach if Spain relied on the enormous body of research that already exists to form its policies, as well as model the successful policies in countries that have already launched national, regulated medical cannabis industries, including Canada which has also legalized adult-use cannabis sales as well.
