The use of therapeutic cannabis in Belgium
Belgian experience is important that the plants for use in the medical field must be provided not only to the possibility of applying cannabisa, but also at the level of normative-legal acts to fix the possibility of legal entry into the pharmacological market of feed containing the psychoactive ingredients.
Until recently, in Belgium it was forbidden to use cannabis for medical purposes. The progress on this issue began in 2012, when based on the experience of countries in Europe and North America, patients with severe diseases have attracted the attention of the relevant government agencies to this issue. Based on a study of best practices in other countries, as well as under the Belgian public pressure, the impetus for the use of cannabis for medical purposes became a Royal Decree, published in 2015. March 2016 marked a turning point in the history of medical use of cannabis in the country. As in Canada, the Netherlands, Israel and the United States, the country was allowed to use cannabis for medical purposes. Currently, the therapeutic use of cannabis is permitted in the form of capsules, suppositories, oils, bath solutions for the effective treatment of a wide range of pathologies, as well as a prophylactic effect on a large number of diseases.
Of medical institutions of the country are actively carried out a study on the possible use of therapeutic cannabis for the treatment of various diseases associated with spazmasticheskimi reactions of the organism, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, nausea and vomiting caused by HIV, as well as a result of chemotherapy, diseases associated with high intraocular pressure (including including glaucoma).
Particular attention is paid to the possibility of using the Belgians therapeutic cannabis for the treatment of Crohn's disease. In 2013, during the study found that 45% of patients not only get relief by using medical cannabis, but there is a gradual remission until complete recovery.
How Belgian patients currently can obtain cannabis for its medical uses
It is possible to import the therapeutic cannabis at exorbitant prices from other countries of the European Union. Some patients take part in clinical trials conducted by medical institutions in the country (attended by only those who need to meet the necessary criteria - the type of disease, the level of pain, etc.). Some Belgian citizens cultivate for themselves medical cannabis or acquire it from friends and acquaintances. Some Belgians are traded on the illegal market, even despite the fact that the risk of getting poor quality goods or violate applicable law.
Comment of the Association "Ukrainian industrial hemp"
At that time, as research in the field of therapeutic applications of cannabis, as well as its use in Belgium are in their infancy, the economically developed countries in the world conduct extensive research methods and forms of application cannabisa for the treatment of a number of serious, including chronic diseases. For example, studies on the use of medicinal properties of cannabis for the treatment of childhood epilepsy indicate that the use of cannabidiolic oil significantly reduces seizures in patients or even lead to their prevention.
Spanish biochemist Manuel Guzman, for over 10 years studying the medicinal properties of cannabis claims that cannabinoids are able to accelerate the death of cancer cells, inherent in the nine types of tumors that arise in the course of cancer. In 2017, a group of medical scientists is planning to conduct clinical trials, aimed at exploring the possibility of treating brain tumors in humans using therapeutic cannabis. Similar studies conducted in the United States and Israel. The challenge facing physicians is to demonstrate the ability or inability to use of cannabinoids for the treatment of various forms of cancer.
For Ukraine, the Belgian experience is important that the plants for use in the medical field must be provided not only to the possibility of applying cannabisa, but also at the level of normative-legal acts to fix the possibility of legal entry into the market of pharmacological raw material containing psychoactive components.
Information taken from the site http://tku.org.ua