Prescription cannabis for medicinal use became legally available in Greece for the first time on February 19, to complement the treatment of patients suffering from extremely challenging and painful conditions.
Such conditions include nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy for cancer and AIDS/HIV, pain and spasticity in multiple sclerosis, persistent pain that does not respond to available treatments or where treatments are not well tolerated by patients. It could also help increase the appetite of patients receiving palliative care, AMNA reports.
Doctors who have the right to prescribe pharmaceutical cannabis in Greece include anaesthetists, neurologists and pathologists specialising in cancer, infections and rheumatism. Prescriptions can be repeated by other doctors for six months, but the treatment must then be re-evaluated by a specialist.
Plans to allow the sale of prescription cannabis in pharmacies in Greece were announced in 2022 before their eventual implementation almost two years later.
Presciption cannabis “not a panacea”
Anaesthetist Dr. Chrysoula Karanastasi, head of the Greek Medical Society for Cannabinoids, tells AMNA that “everyone could potentially benefit and everyone could see their hopes disappointed” as prescription cannabis is “not a panacea.”
The doctor explains that cannabinoids are a new group of pharmacologically active substances, which behave in a different way to the drugs available until now: “I would not say that they cover a specific gap so much as complement our treatment options.”
Finding the right dose is a step-by-step process that needs to be individually tailored to each patient, in collaboration with the doctor, Dr Karanastasi points out.
The cost of the treatment with prescription cannabis products is covered exclusively by the patients, as there is no provision for state insurance coverage.
The recreational cannabis decriminalisation debate
The use of recreational cannabis, on the other hand, remains illegal in Greece.
There is ongoing debate for its decriminalisation in Europe, as last week Germany legalised the possesion of recreational cannabis for personal use, thus becoming the third European Union member state to legalise cannabis for personal use, after Malta and Luxembourg.
Supporters of the legalisation of recreational cannabis argue that such policies would undermine the black market, protect smokers from contaminated cannabis and destroy revenue streams for organized crime gangs.
On the contrary, doctors share their concerns that this would also endanger the health of young people by making the drug more accessible and increasing the risk of addiction.
The International Narcotics Control Board in 2023 cited data indicating that in all jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized, there has been an increase in cannabis-related health problems.