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CHAPTERV_ Global Cannabis Regulation
New Zealand’s Misuse of Drugs Act generally makes the importation, cultivation, distribution, pos- session and use of cannabis illegal. However, in September 2017, New Zealand’s Health Ministry lifted certain restrictions so that doctors may now prescribe approved CBD products. (Previously, patients in need of CBD products were required to apply directly to the Health Ministry, and approval was granted on a case-by-case basis.) In December 2017, New Zealand introduced legislation for a medical law that would amend the Misuse of Drugs Act to permit domestic production of medical cannabis products and their use by people with terminal illness or chronic pain.
Europe
The European Union provides no coordinated legal framework for cannabis and, historically, Euro- pean countries generally have prohibited its production and sale, but have also decriminalized or toler- ated possession of small amounts.
In some European countries, personal use exceptions to criminal prosecution have been used to carve out visible distribution models. In the Netherlands, for example, Amsterdam is famous for its coffee-shop cannabis sales, even though the suppliers of cannabis to those coffee shops generally oper- ate illegally. And in Spain, despite a federal prohibition on the sale of cannabis, court decisions and laws permitting cultivation for personal consumption have served to justify the country’s hundreds of private cannabis clubs.
To date, no European country has implemented a recreational law comparable to those in Uruguay and some U.S. states and expected in Canada. However, starting with the Netherlands in 2003, a number of European countries have enacted medical laws that facilitate patient access to cannabis or concentrates, through importation or domestic production, for treating specified medical conditions.
Italy has allowed medical cannabis use since 2013 under a law that requires cannabis to be sold through authorized pharmacies to patients with a valid prescription.
Croatia legalized the limited use of medical cannabis products in 2015. Under the law, doctors may prescribe cannabis ointments, teas and other extracts to patients with a qualifying health condition, including tumors, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and child epilepsy. Smoking or vaporizing cannabis flower is not allowed under the law. In 2016, Croatia received a shipment of medical cannabis products from a Canadian producer, marking the first time a North American company legally shipped cannabis products containing THC and CBD into the European Union.
A German law that took effect in 2017 legalizes the use of medical cannabis products prescribed for patients with serious illnesses, including multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, epilepsy and chemotherapy- induced nausea and lack of appetite. The law provides a framework for the regulation of suppliers under which the government has already issued import licenses to Canadian and Dutch firms and is finalizing an approval process for the issuance of domestic production licenses.
A 2017 Polish law permits patients to obtain medical cannabis products, including flower, extracts and tinctures, through pharmacies if they have both a physician’s medical authorization and permis- sion from a regional pharmaceutical inspector. The qualifying conditions eligible for medical cannabis include chronic pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea, multiple sclerosis, spasticity and treatment- resistant epilepsy. Cannabis products must be imported into Poland because the law does not permit cannabis cultivation within the country.
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