Czech Republic - Medical Cannabis

The consumption of medical cannabis in the Czech Republic has quadrupled from year to year. While patients were prescribed 17 kilograms of cannabis in 2019, the amount increased to 66.8 kilograms last year.

According to data published by the Office of the Government's Drug Policy Department, the Ministry of Health and the Public Institute for Drug Control, the increase is due to the fact that, since last year, 90 percent of the price of cannabis was covered by health insurance.

At the end of 2019, 434 patients had been prescribed cannabis for medicinal purposes, last December this figure rose to 1103 people, or about two and a half times more. The number of registered doctors authorized to release medical cannabis also increased, from 78 at the end of 2019 to 123 in 2020.

Doctors issued 4,145 prescriptions in 2019, or around 345 prescriptions per month. Last year they prescribed 14,167 recipes, an average of about 1,181 per month.

The consumption and prescription of medicinal cannabis has been legal in the Czech Republic since 2013.

The first years of the program are states full of supply shortages due to the cancellation of the first cultivation tender, as well as the lack of authorized prescribers.

Medical cannabis is allowed in the Czech Republic for the treatment of a wide range of conditions including chronic pain, back pain, neurological disorders such as MS, cachexia, Tourette's syndrome and psoriasis. However, with 82% of total sales by weight, most cannabis flowers were released for painful conditions in 2020.

The production and sale of cannabis for recreational purposes remains illegal in the Republic Czech Republic, even if some politicians, including the Pirate Party opposition, are trying to push for a liberalization of the current legislation on the matter.

Central to the recent developments of the Czech medical cannabis program are the measures taken by the government to improve the accessibility of cannabis treatments.

This includes reimbursement by the public health insurance of the 90's % of the cost of the product, up to a limit of 30 grams per month, as well as a price limit set at € 6.41 per gram.

Sources: praguemorning