As Medical Marijuana Becomes Legal In Ukraine, Growing Support Shows Significant Shift In Attitudes

Ukraine's medical marijuana legalization law took effect on August 16th. The news came about six months after Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, signed a bill legalizing medical cannabis into law.

The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted a study surveying 1,067 Ukrainians about their attitude towards legalization, writes Babel. The research revealed that 43% of respondents support the reform, while 16% are against it. At the same time, a significant percentage (41%) declared a neutral stance on the issue.

The sociologists conducting the survey rephrased the question by specifying that marijuana is a "light drug," which led to a slight increase in approval (to 45%) and a higher increase in opposition (to 23%) while neutral stance decreased to 32%.

Support significantly grew when respondents were informed of the medical benefits of marijuana, resulting in 57% approval, 14% disapproval and 28% remaining neutral or undecided.

Regional differences were noted, with the most support (regardless of the wording of the question) coming from central Ukraine and the least from the south. Eastern Ukraine had the highest rates of opposition. Older generations (60-69) were most likely to support the reform, while those aged 40-49 were the group that opposed the most.

Read Also: 80% Of Surveyed Thai Citizens Support Cannabis Recriminalization, Government Poll Shows

Significant Shift In Attitudes

Anton Hrushetskyi, executive director of KIIS, highlighted the positive and significant shift in attitudes as the previous polls in 2016 had 85% of respondents agreeing that soft drugs should be completely banned.

“The growth of a positive attitude towards the legalization of medical cannabis can be considered as one of the indicators of the modernization of the values of Ukrainians and their approach to European or Western ones, as well as the greater crystallization of Ukraine as a part of the European and Western world in general," Hrushetskyi said.

“Now we are observing fundamental changes in the minds of citizens, who are already favorably disposed to legalization," Hrushetskyi continued. "However, caution should be exercised. There remains a fairly large proportion of those who have a neutral or undecided attitude. In addition, the law has only just entered into force, and it is important what exactly the implementation will look like. One can expect narratives about ‘corruption in this area,' about ‘turning Ukraine into a drug laboratory,' about ‘the growth of drug addicts,' etc. That is, the opponents of legalization retain the opportunity to influence public opinion, and this should be taken into account so that there is no retreat from the current (rather positive) state."

Zelenskyy and other Ukraine officials previously said cannabis is useful for overall health as it provides citizens with ways to deal with the pain, stress and trauma of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The Ukrainian healthcare ministry reported in September 2022 that over 90% of Ukrainians have developed at least one symptom of PTSD since the war started and that 57% are at risk of developing PTSD.

Under the law, cannabis, its resin, extracts and tinctures are removed from the list of particularly dangerous substances. Medical marijuana use is simplified, and every transaction is traced electronically.

The Ministry of Health suggested that medical marijuana is effective in the treatment of more than 50 conditions, including epilepsy, chronic pain, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, arthritis and more.

Read Next:

• Medical Marijuana Regulated As Ibuprofen Is One Of The Biggest Breakthroughs Of Germany’s Cannabis Law

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