Cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs in a pilot project in Denmark

The first survey conducted in Denmark on the use of cannabis as a substitute for medicines found that the vast majority of respondents (90.9%) reported using the plant's therapeutic properties without a doctor's prescription. It should be borne in mind that 63.9% of the respondents reported using the therapeutic properties of the plant not for recreational purposes, namely, in order to obtain a healing / healing effect, and consumers prefer hemp raw materials with a low content of tetrahydrocannabinol and an increased amount of other drug-free cannabinoids, in primarily cannabidiol.

The editors of the specialized electronic edition of national cannabis growers have already focused the attention of our dear readers and listeners on the fact that “ Denmark is extending the pilot program aimed at studying the need to use the therapeutic properties of cannabis ”. However, not only the aforementioned decision of the country's parliamentarians attracted the attention of specialists from the national hemp market. During the pilot program, a trend was identified to use the therapeutic properties of the plant as a substitute for prescription drugs, which will be of interest primarily to Ukrainian consumers / patients.

Denmark launched a four-year cannabis therapeutic program in 2018 to provide a safe and legal basis for the herb to be used in patients with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, chronic pain or nausea associated with chemotherapy. Within the framework of the pilot program, the task was not set to investigate the potential of the hemp plant as a substitute for traditional pharmacological preparations, however, the results obtained during the pilot program, on the one hand, clearly once again demonstrate the motives of patients to obtain the maximum therapeutic properties of the plant at the lowest price, on the other hand, initiatives of large pharmaceutical companies. working to “lead the movement” to harness the healing / health benefits of cannabis and steer it in a direction that is profitable for the development of their own business.

It should be borne in mind that as part of the pilot program, the Danish Medicines Agency recommends prescribing the therapeutic properties of cannabis only to those patients who have not received the desired effect during treatment with traditionally approved drugs. Thus, in Denmark, the therapeutic properties of cannabis are not officially seen as a mechanism to combat prescription drug abuse, but rather as the last possible remedy or treatment for patients. 

An analysis of the data obtained by our colleagues from Denmark indicates the widespread use of the therapeutic properties of cannabis (non-prescription plant mechanisms of use), which occurs outside the legal framework of the pilot project. In particular, the first survey conducted in Denmark on the use of cannabis as a substitute for medicines found that the vast majority of respondents (90.9%) reported using the plant's therapeutic properties without a doctor's prescription. It should be borne in mind that 63.9% of the respondents reported using the therapeutic properties of the plant not for recreational purposes, namely, in order to obtain a healing / healing effect, and consumers prefer hemp raw materials with a low content of tetrahydrocannabinol and an increased amount of other drug-free cannabinoids, in primarily cannabidiol. This trend may be rooted in the fact that the use of cannabis therapeutic properties outside of the pilot program is illegal (both sale and storage), with the exception of hemp products containing less than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol. 

To the surprise of government officials in the pilot, the plant's use as a substitute for prescription drugs is one of the leading motivations for patients. Pain relievers were the most common prescription drugs that were replaced with therapeutically active elements of the plant, followed by antidepressants and arthritis medications. Participants in Danish substitution therapy projects reported significant reductions or cessations in their prescription drug use, as well as a greater effect and a much better side effect profile of cannabis compared to prescription drugs. Thus, from the point of view of replacement therapy patients, the hemp plant can be viewed as the lesser of two evils compared to prescription drugs. 

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

We have emphasized more than once that the end consumer / patient prefers to receive the maximum amount of the therapeutic properties of the hemp plant for the minimum price. That is why in the economically developed countries of the world the markets for hemp nutraceuticals (food products that include the therapeutically active components of the hemp plant - leaves and inflorescences), various additives (biologically active, dietary, feed, etc.), cosmetics, or goods for animals that are used for industrial purposes, as well as the possibility of individual cultivation is regulated. The information of our Danish colleagues confirms once again the fact that the consumer / patient is primarily interested in using the therapeutic properties of untreated plants, which have enormous therapeutic potential. Especially valuable is the fact that the material demonstrates a tendency according to which the participants in a Danish pilot program in the framework of which are studying the possibilities of using the therapeutic properties of the hemp plant in the overwhelming majority of cases use the potential of the hemp plant to replace it with the natural properties of pharmacological preparations. This trend gives an understanding of why foreign pharmaceutical companies are trying to impose on the national consumer / patient the paradigm that the therapeutic properties of the plant can be used exclusively in the form of pharmaceutical preparations.

During the next training course for the students of the Hemp University , within the framework of the upcoming presentations for a specialized round table, " Possibilities of using the medicinal properties of technical hemp of therapeutic orientation " will be demonstrated , but also the mechanism according to which citizens of our country can absolutely legally grow on their own home gardens hemp plants with tremendous therapeutic properties.