Ukraine Approves Medical Marijuana For Certain Health Conditions, PTSD Left Out For Now

The Ukrainian government green-lighted a list of health conditions that will make patients eligible to use medical marijuana.

The news follows the government’s creation of additional rules to regulate the nascent industry earlier this month, and over a month after a law allowing the distribution of cannabis plants for medical, industrial and scientific purposes in the country went into effect.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill that legalizes medical cannabis law earlier this year after the Ukrainian Parliament successfully unblocked the approval of a medical marijuana legalization bill in January.

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

What’s On The List?

Ukraine's Ministry of Health made public a list of roughly 20 qualifying conditions for which patients can get medical cannabis prescribed, such as multiple sclerosis, neuropathy, shingles, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, complications from chemotherapy, childhood epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and weight loss associated with eating disorders. However, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) seems to have been left off the list, at least for now.

The national authority charged with oversight of the entire health system in Ukraine signaled there's a potential for additional conditions to end up on the list going forward.

Zelenskyy and other Ukraine officials previously praised the benefits of cannabis for overall health. The plant has proved useful for citizens helping them to deal with the pain, stress and trauma of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

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"Taking a medicinal product based on cannabis should be stopped if the desired therapeutic effect is not obtained within 4-12 weeks or in case of serious adverse reactions (including those related to the mental state)," the health ministry said, according to a translation provided by Marijuana Moment. "We remind you that all activities related to medical cannabis will be strictly controlled by the state, and the recreational (non-medical) use of cannabis remains prohibited."

Read Next:

• PTSD Patients Could Be Left Behind As Ukraine’s Medical Marijuana Law Takes Effect And More Cannabis Updates Worldwide