Denmark renews cannabis therapeutic pilot program

Just like in Germany, the Czech Republic, as well as a number of other countries that compensate for the cost of medicines based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis at the expense of the country's budget, lobbying groups in Denmark are trying to establish such a mechanism for making a profit by pharmaceutical companies from the beginning at the level of pilot programs. In fact, even within the framework of the pilot program, the idea is imposed on government officials that the use of the therapeutic properties of cannabis is possible only in the form of pharmacological preparations and, due to the fact that their cost for the citizens of the country is high, it is necessary to initially provide for any compensation mechanisms from the state budget. ...

Parliamentarians of the country decided on the need to extend the experimental pilot program, which is being carried out to generate the data necessary to amend the regulatory framework aimed at regulating the possibility of using the therapeutic properties of medical cannabis.

According to the published "Agreement on the continuation of the trial scheme for the use of medical cannabis", parliamentarians of the country decided to extend for the next four years a pilot project aimed at studying the feasibility of using the therapeutic properties of the plant. This document states the expediency of improving the scheme of using the therapeutic properties of medical cannabis for doctors in the next four years, who, within the framework of a pilot program, will be able to legally prescribe leaves and inflorescences of a plant or preparations made on its basis to patients.

An agreement was reached, according to which the pilot program will work with Danish companies that specialize in the cultivation of legal psychoactive cannabis, which is subsequently used for medical purposes. Attention is focused on the need to establish production of a consistently required volume of raw materials, as well as on the need to create an attractive environment for foreign investors to invest in this area of ​​modern cannabis breeding.

The document emphasizes the need for a cost mechanism to fund a pilot pilot program on the ability of companies to grow cannabis for medical use. It is planned to make changes to the previously proposed financing scheme by attracting various kinds of grants or investments "from outside". In addition, the signatories to the Agreement agree that changes to the funding scheme for the pilot program may be made at a later date.

The signatories separately emphasized in the document that they are interested in regulating the mechanism for paying off the cost of hemp-based pharmaceuticals. The subsidy mechanism should be presented by the relevant government agencies in the fall of 2021.

Commentary of the specialists of the Association "Ukrainian technical hemp"

The current scheme for testing the therapeutic properties of medical cannabis will expire at the end of 2021 (a pilot program was launched in 2018 for a period of 4 years). The pilot program aims to develop mechanisms to offer patients legal and safe drugs based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis, and to provide Danish health authorities with information on patients needing such treatment. The task was to analyze the information obtained over 4 years in order to understand the need to regulate the use of medical hemp, as well as to determine the effectiveness of the drugs themselves and the developed mechanisms of their use. The Danish pilot program is aimed at patients with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, cancer, and those suffering from neuropathic pain.

Due to the fact that government officials have not fully decided on all the nuances associated with the consequences of introducing amendments to the legislation related to regulating the possibility of using the therapeutic properties of medical cannabis, it was decided to extend the corresponding pilot program in Denmark for another 4 years. Due to the fact that the extension of the test scheme must be regulated in some way, the country's legislators signed a corresponding Agreement in order to extend the test scheme in the country on a legal basis. In connection with the above, government officials in Denmark will submit relevant documents to the country's parliament in the fall of 2021 in order for the pilot program to be officially extended until the end of 2021 for the next four years.

It is necessary to note several key points at once, which are indicated by the Agreement signed by the country's parliamentarians:

- in Denmark, as well as in a number of other economically developed countries, amendments to the current legislation in areas sensitive to the country's social policy are carried out only after receiving the results of the work of pilot programs, which provide an opportunity to obtain the necessary changes in the regulatory and legal database, and also develop mechanisms and algorithms for working with a hemp plant;

- if, for some reason, the pilot program could not provide sufficient grounds for making changes to the current legislation of the country or there are any unresolved issues, the work under the corresponding pilot programs is extended;

- I would especially like to draw your attention to the thesis concerning the development of mechanisms for repaying the cost of pharmacological preparations made on the basis of hemp. Just like in Germany, the Czech Republic, as well as a number of other countries that compensate for the cost of medicines based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis at the expense of the country's budget, lobbying groups in Denmark are trying to establish such a mechanism for making a profit by pharmaceutical companies from the beginning at the level of pilot programs. In fact, even within the framework of the pilot program, the idea is imposed on government officials that the use of the therapeutic properties of cannabis is possible only in the form of pharmacological preparations and, due to the fact that their cost for the citizens of the country is high, it is necessary to initially provide for any compensation mechanisms from the state budget. .