Germany

[budman]

Medicinal cannabis available in Germany, but isn't "wonder drug"
By Arnd Petry

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Sunday September 17, 2006

By Arnd Petry, Berlin- Hemp, from which marijuana and hashish are made, is notorious as a "gateway drug" even though cannabis, its botanical name, is one of the oldest medicinal plants in human history. "Cannabis was used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine to treat nervous disorders, sleeplessness, vomiting and inflammations," noted Ursula Sellerberg, a pharmacist in Berlin.

In Germany the only cannabis product now legally available is Dronabinol, whose active ingredient is a partly synthetic derivative of hemp. Pharmacies can make capsules with the ingredient for people who have a doctor's prescription. In addition, medicines containing Dronabinol can be obtained legally from outside Germany via German pharmacies.

"Cannabinoids represent a significant gain for pain therapy," said Thomas Nolte, vice president of the German Pain Therapy Association. Scientific studies have proven their effectiveness in treating many ailments, particularly chronic pain and neurological diseases.

On the other hand, "cannabis products aren't wonder drugs," pointed out Franjo Grotenhermen, a physician and chairman of the Neunkirchen-based Association for Cannabis as Medicine. He said some patients benefited greatly from them, but many others little or not at all.

Cannabinoids activate different receptors in the body than do traditional pain-killing medicines, and can therefore be taken in combination with them to good effect, Nolte noted.

Though experts agree that cannabis is a psychotropic substance, Nolte said its addiction potential was not a factor in therapy. Grotenhermen and his comrades urge that cannabis be made legally available to seriously ill persons, and that Ge rmany's public health insurance companies cover the costs.

"Doctors are allowed to prescribe Dronabinol, but public health insurance companies aren't required to pick up the costs," Grotenhermen said.

Pain therapy based on cannabinoids is expensive. At about 80 euro cents for a milligram of Dronabinol, a month of therapy costs more than 250 euros. "Illegal hemp is 10 to 20 times cheaper," Grotenhermen noted.

Should a patient's public health insurance company refuse to pay, there is always the nearest drug dealer to turn to. An alternative is the "hemp pharmacy" (www.hanfapotheke.com). "The hemp pharmacy refers the inquiry to a medical examiner," Grotenhermen explained. The examiner contacts the patient a nd verifies the need for treatment.

If the need is confirmed, the hemp pharmacy is informed. The pharmacy then gives the patient's address to a hemp donor that it has contacted anonymously on the Internet. The donor sends the marijuana or hashish to the patient for free.

A disadvantage for the patient is not knowing the quality, or composition, of his or her medicine.

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<center><small>© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur</small></center>

[palmspringsbum]

Germany Allows Patient Legal Use of Cannabis

Deutsche Welle
August 21st, 2007


A patient suffering from multiple sclerosis has been legally allowed to buy cannabis at the pharmacy under strict conditions. It's the first time Germany has permitted the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Germany' Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday that the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices for the first time approved the application of a 51-year-old woman suffering from multiple sclerosis to legally buy cannabis from a pharmacy to ease her symptoms.

The approval is linked to strict restrictions, but starting at the end of August, the woman, Claudia H, is allowed to buy a "standardized extract" from the cannabis plant from the pharmacy for a year. A doctor has to monitor the therapy. In addition, both the patient and the pharmacy have to store the drug extracts in a safe so to prevent theft.

<span class=postbold>Cannabis shown to ease pain</span>

According to the Munich-based paper, several scientific studies show that cannabis can ease pain and spasms often associated with multiple sclerosis, a debilitating nerve ailment. It's also known to prevent weight loss among cancer and AIDS patients.

So far, cannabis has been illegal in Germany -- only possession of small amounts of the drug are allowed -- and its use for medicinal purposes limited to scientific studies and aims that "are in the public interest."

Doctors so far can only prescribe the synthetically-produced Dronabinol, which is an active ingredient in cannabis. But since the substance isn't approved as a medicine in Germany, the medicine's costs aren't covered by health insurance. In contrast, the price of the direct cannabis medicine is expected to be much cheaper.

<span class=postbold>Cannabis remains illegal</span>

In 2005, a court ruling threw into question the complete ban on cannabis for medicinal purposes. The German Federal Administrative Court ruled that the health of individual patients also lay in "the public interest." That means that the Bonn-based Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices now has to consider each application for use of cannabis for medicinal purposes on a case-by-case basis.

Despite Tuesday's landmark decision to allow cannabis for treatment, the drug remains illegal in future. Patients who acquire it on their own risk prosecution. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported of a case last week when a local court sentenced a hepatitis-C patient for possession of cannabis to a year in prison without bail.

[palmspringsbum]

Germany permits medicinal marijuana

United Press International
August 21st, 2007


A German woman with multiple sclerosis is the first person in her country to be allowed to legally buy pharmaceutical-grade cannabis to ease her symptoms.

Deutsche Welle said Tuesday the newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices' decision to permit the 51-year-old woman to legally buy cannabis from a pharmacy was unprecedented.

Doctors, so far, are only allowed to prescribe a synthetic form of cannabis called Dronabinol, which is not covered by health insurance. Patients who acquire it without a doctor's prescription risk prosecution.

Under the institute's ruling, the woman, identified as Claudia H., will be allowed to buy a "standardized extract" from the cannabis plant at a pharmacy for a one-year period. A doctor has to monitor the medicinal marijuana therapy and the drug must be kept in a safe to prevent theft.

The Munich newspaper said several scientific studies show cannabis can ease pain and spasms often associated with multiple sclerosis, a debilitating nerve ailment. It's also known to prevent weight loss among cancer and AIDS patients.