Poland discusses medical cannabis
In Poland, the Parliament started the debate on the new legislation that would allow tens of thousands of Poles with a wide range of health problems, to mobilize for medical cannabis.
A parliamentary committee held its first meeting on this topic last month, an answer for the tireless efforts of the political movements like Kukiz 15, but also activists from the NGO Wolne Konopie (free Cannabis Association) and the Coalition of Medical Marijuana, which includes doctors, lawyers, patients and families of patients.
Kukiz 15 is a somewhat controversial political movement, created and led by punk rock musician Pawel Kukiz. It currently occupies 36 seats in the Polish “Sejm”, the lower house of Parliament which is made up of 460 deputies.
The promoter of medical cannabis is probably Piotr-Liroy Marzec, a famous rapper who turned politician. The day before the committee's first meeting on October 20, Liroy met with Minister of Health Konstanty Radziwiłł to discuss a draft for a new law on medical cannabis. The Minister, however, said in his proposal -, among other things, that allowing patients to grow their own cannabis - goes way too far ... That crops are not necessary, he claimed, only certain cannabis remedies are already available to Polish patients.
Liroy Wolne of Konopie (Free Cannabis Association) appeared on television and strongly criticized the Ministry of Health:
“The situation is unbearable,” he said. “People are dying every day because of the laws in place. I have to attend their funeral and you should start talking to their family and telling them face to face what you keep telling the media. "
In Poland, cannabis is illegal, and in the past no medicinal cannabis program was available to patients. And despite the intervention of the Constitutional Court, which asked the government to take over the legalization of medicinal cannabis in November 2014, no change has taken place until today.
According to Jakub Gajewski, director of the NGO Wolne Konopie, “It is a good sign that all the members gathered have agreed that they are willing to work on the bill, but we are concerned that five weeks is not enough time. members learn all the necessary facts and make the right decisions. "
Poland is slowly preparing for change, although the Minister of Health did not attend the first meeting of the Committee, his first deputy, Jaroslaw Pinkas, was present at all times. The debate made it clear that this ministry is strongly opposed to the national culture and is solely in charge of culture by the government.
