Reimbursement of costs for the use of the therapeutic properties of cannabis to Canadian veterans exceeded $ 100 million.

Over time, significant financial resources will be spent from the state budget of Ukraine for the needs of former and current military personnel, which, like in Canada, will cover the costs of using foreign pharmacological preparations based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis. However, foreign pharmacological companies will primarily make money on this kind of compensation, as well as in the case of the mechanism for compensating the cost of pharmacological preparations made on the basis of the therapeutic properties of the plant, intended for patients with the use of insurance medicine.

Veterans Affairs Canada's medical cannabis reimbursement for medical cannabis hit an all-time high in 2020, offsetting the overall decline in spending across the general population. Specifically, in the fiscal year 2020-21 ending March 31, Veterans Affairs of Canada reimbursed 15,369 clients for a total of CAD 119.3 million ($ 100 million) for the cost of drugs based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis or leaves. and plant inflorescences with significant therapeutic potential. The above figures are higher than the prior year, when 13,270 customers were reimbursed for similar expenses in the amount of CAD 85.1 million.

To give an idea of ​​the size of the reimbursement market for hemp-based pharmaceuticals and flowers with significant therapeutic potential, let us try to estimate the figures provided by Veterans Affairs Canada globally. For example, in FY2020, Veterans Affairs Canada's spending on pharmaceuticals based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis surpassed the entire Australian market, which was estimated at approximately C $ 100 million. The sales volume of 14,463 kilograms (31,885 lb) of medical hemp reimbursed by Veterans Affairs in 2020 by Veterans Affairs of Canada exceeded the legal market for therapeutic hemp green mass in the European Union, which was estimated at approximately 10 tons.

It should be noted separately that in terms of costs for flowers and pharmaceuticals made on the basis of the therapeutic properties of cannabis, veterans account for about a quarter of the entire Canadian market for legal psychoactive cannabis. Specifically, household spending on hemp products for medical use was C $ 618 million in 2019, down slightly to C $ 587 million in 2020.

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

The indicated figures of compensations by the Department of Veterans Affairs of Canada in comparison with the markets of the EU or Australia clearly demonstrate not only the potential of this market, but also how the markets of individual EU countries are scanty in comparison with similar indicators in Canada. 

The growing military spending on medical cannabis reflects the trend that various organizations in the private and public sectors of the Canadian economy are planning to cover these costs in their corporate benefits and insurance plans. For example, Canada's largest private sector union, Unifor, late last year partnered with licensed manufacturer Aleafia Health to provide health insurance for cannabis-derived pharmaceuticals to its members.

In our country, a significant number of active or former military personnel are entitled to receive the opportunity to use the therapeutic properties of cannabis for the treatment of various diseases obtained in the course of their professional activities. We emphasize that this assistance is not necessary to receive using pharmacological preparations based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis. In Ukraine, products / goods have already been developed, as well as methods of their use, which are successfully applied abroad. In order for these goods to be sold on the territory of our country, it is only necessary to amend the existing by-laws and write departmental instructions regulating the legality of this type of activity. Otherwise, over time, significant financial resources will be spent from the state budget of Ukraine for the needs of former and active military personnel, which, like in Canada, will cover the costs of using foreign pharmaceutical preparations based on the therapeutic properties of cannabis. However, foreign pharmacological companies will primarily make money on this kind of compensation, as well as in the case of the mechanism for compensating the cost of pharmacological preparations made on the basis of the therapeutic properties of the plant, intended for patients with the use of insurance medicine. The above mechanisms have already been implemented in individual EU countries, for example, in Germany, the Czech Republic.