L-R: Dr Alain Origer, National "Drugs" Coordinator; Lydia Mutsch, Minister of Health; Dr Simone Steil, Chief Medical Officer, Division of Preventive Medicine;
Credit: MSAN
Luxembourg has made the decision to move towards the limited authorisation of the use of cannabis in exceptional medical cases.
As of 27 October 2017, the Luxembourg government cabinet has agreed to the limited access to cannabis for medical purposes at the national level.
Research into the medical use of cannabis, cannabis extracts and certain cannabinoids has developed significantly in recent years and scientific interest in "medical cannabis" has surged. Nevertheless, the issue still raises many unanswered questions, according to Dr Alain Origer, National “Drugs” Coordinator.
Since 2012, following a legislative change, duly authorised cannabinoid medicines can be prescribed in the Grand Duchy and in 2015, the drug Sativex®, which helps reduce symptoms of multiple sclerosis, was authorised.
Likewise, across the EU, a growing minority of Member States have implemented legal frameworks regulating access to "medical cannabis", most recently Germany.
However, practice shows that different models and devices have been put in place to provide access to various components and products of medicinal cannabis and in most cases, the use of medicinal cannabis requires either a medical prescription or a confirmation of a medical diagnosis.
Many current laws define the eligibility of patients based on a set of medical conditions or symptoms for which the beneficial effects of cannabis or products derived from cannabis have been studied scientifically.
Taking into account the experience of other countries with comparable mechanisms and national programmes, a pilot scheme is envisaged for Luxembourg during the first two years. In particular, an evaluation of the number of patients and prescribing indications will be necessary in order to have the necessary data to decide on a possible consolidation or development of the national system in this area.
