Congress will endorse the use of cannabis only for therapeutic purposes

The Congress of Deputies is about to take the first step to endorse a more widespread use of drugs derived from cannabis for therapeutic purposes.

The Socialists are going to present a resolution proposal in this sense to the parliamentary commission that was created a year ago to study the matter.

The text recommends that the Ministry of Health authorize the use of preparations or extracts from the hemp plant "in order to respond to those patients who are prescribed through established channels."

The PSOE points out that Spain would thus be equated to the 10 EU countries that already have the medical cannabis market regulated.

The Ministry of Health had previously promised to follow the commission's recommendations.

The PSOE will now have to submit its proposal to the rest of the groups, although there is a broad consensus in the Chamber on the need to regulate drugs made from cannabis.

In June of last year, when the PNV presented the initiative to create the commission whose work is now concluding, only the PP and Vox strongly opposed it.

During the work of the commission, which has listened to experts and patients, the popular, however, have qualified their positions, according to parliamentary sources.

In addition to the left and the Basque nationalists, Ciudadanos is also in favour, in the case of the latter group even completely legalizing drugs for recreational purposes.

The possibility of a legalization that goes beyond the therapeutic was outside the object of the commission, although the conclusions of the PSOE leave no doubt that the majority party of the Government persists in its denial.

The socialist text expressly alludes to the need to prevent the production of these derivatives from contributing to "greater availability and consumption outside the health context".

"We do not want to do anything that could increase supply and consumption, as has happened in other countries," said socialist parliamentary sources.

Two drugs made from the plant are currently on the market in Spain.

With the proposal that the Congress will submit to Health, it is intended to facilitate the “wholesale” marketing of “standardized cannabis extracts or preparations such as those available in other European countries”, including Germany, Italy, Portugal or Denmark.

The text recalls that in 2020 the UN Drug Convention softened its consideration of cannabis in view of its medicinal possibilities in certain cases.

Among the recommendations is the arbitration of measures so that hospital pharmacies "can prepare master formulas for direct use in certain cases."

The creation of a central registry of all patients who are being treated with this type of preparation based on the data provided to Health by each of the regional health services is also suggested.

It will be the Spanish Medicines Agency that will have to regulate the way in which these products can be prescribed, as well as the formulas prepared in pharmacies.

The text that Congress will vote on urges Health to promote the training of doctors in the therapeutic use of this drug.

Cannabis for specific ailments

The PSOE proposal underlines that the medical efficacy of cannabis derivatives is very focused on a few ailments.

"Scientific evidence is limited and is restricted to some diagnoses," says the text.

The drugs already available on the market are aimed at combating pathologies associated with multiple sclerosis and some forms of epilepsy.

"Thousands of patients have benefited from them," underlines the draft parliamentary report.

The Spanish Medicines Agency has long been issuing permits for the controlled cultivation of the plant with the sole purpose of producing these products.

The healing power of cannabis is also proven in the case of neuropathic pain.

But the drugs currently available are not indicated for this pathology, one of the main reasons put forward by the PSOE for taking the step of authorizing new products.

Until now, no further applications had been submitted to commercialize other derivatives.

Nor has the large pharmaceutical industry carried out clinical trials in this regard and it is not expected that it will release any product in the short term, which is why it is intended to allow the use of specific preparations in hospital pharmaceutical services.

The proposal that Congress will now examine is full of precautions to prevent such a measure from promoting another type of trade with hemp derivatives.

It obliges the parliamentary commission itself to make an annual evaluation of how the regulation is working.

The same must be undertaken by the Spanish Medicines Agency, based on the data of the autonomous communities, and the National Delegation of the Plan on Drugs.

The latter is urged more specifically to include in this annual study data on "the frequency of use in the adolescent and adult population, the signs of intensive use, the signs of problematic use and the people who seek specialized treatment with cannabis as main substance.

“It is a scheme applied in other countries”, emphasize the socialists.

"It seems to us that in this way we can try to relieve the ailments of certain people without creating situations that can generate new problems."

No other step towards legalization

Socialists strive to deny that the authorization of cannabis preparations for medicinal purposes is the first step towards a broader legalization of this drug.

The PSOE wants to separate what it understands as "two different debates", although "some mix it up". 

In the past year, the Socialists have been met with several initiatives by their allies in Congress to open up to hemp.

The commission on medicinal uses was accepted by the PSOE after a proposal that the PNV took to the Chamber.

The groups further to the left have pressed on the other side.

Both the minority partner of the Government, United We Can, as well as ERC and More Country presented bills last year with the aim of a generalized legalization in the way of what has been put into practice in countries such as Canada or in some territories of the United States. .

United We Can has even organized conferences in Congress to advocate for legalization. 

The refusal of the PSOE has so far been resounding and the conclusions of the parliamentary commission on therapeutic uses, full of warnings to prevent these drugs from ending up promoting drug use, suggest that its position is not going to budge.

On this issue, the Socialists have ended up making a common front with the two right-wing parties. 

When the More Country bill was debated last October, in addition to the left, the PNV, Junts and Ciudadanos advocated for legalization, the latter formation with a passionate defense of its liberal convictions.

PSOE, PP and Vox joined in the rejection.

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