As of: April 3, 2024, 7:21 p.m
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
Comments
Press
Split
Since Easter Monday, adults have been allowed to possess and consume cannabis under certain conditions. In an interview, an expert reveals that it will even be cheaper in pharmacies than on the black market.
Berlin – Supporters celebrate, opponents throw their hands over their heads. Smoking weed has been legal in Germany since Monday. The new rules come with conditions, but the medical cannabis industry is still celebrating and is now hoping for a big upswing.
Ippen.Media
worked with Dr. Julian Wichmann, founder and managing director of the cannabis platform Algea Care, spoke about this.
Wichmann: “A new era has dawned for cannabis as a medication”
Ippen.Media: Mr. Wichmann, was the first of April a big day for you?
Wichmann: Yes, the rush on our platform was so great that it was briefly overloaded. In April, patients only pay one euro for their first therapy session via Algea Care. We were completely overrun. The reclassification is an important step for the acceptance of cannabis as a medication because it is now on a par with high-dose ibuprofen and antidepressants and is no longer subject to the Narcotics Act, which has a deterrent effect. Partial legalization is a logical development and, I believe, will have a positive impact on public health - especially because more people will now have access to medical cannabis.
Can you briefly describe your platform Algea Care?
Algea Care has been around since 2020. We are the first and largest online platform for cannabis treatments. This means that patients can first use our platform to find out about medical cannabis and check whether a corresponding therapy is suitable for them. In addition, our platform allows you to contact over 60 doctors who specialize in this treatment and who care for patients through Algea Care; since April 1st, they have been able to fully offer the e-prescription. For us, it is particularly important that patients receive good long-term care because cannabis is not an everyday medication.
Dr. Julian Wichmann, founder and managing director of the cannabis platform Algea Care © Julian Wichmann
How many patients do you currently have in Germany?
My news
1,500 euros per month – Citizen’s benefit recipient emphasizes: “It’s just too much money for my standards” read
Contribution service sends letters to thousands of households - if you don't respond, you risk being fined
“Accumulation of vehicles” spotted: Russia’s army is moving new tanks to Crimea
“That touched a nerve”: Breakfast café has to close shortly after opening – due to too many guests reading
“Significant losses” for Russia: Ukraine repels several attacks on the Dnipro
F-16 fighter jets shot down: Putin openly threatens to attack NATO airfield
We have over 20,000 patients on our platform, almost all of whom are from Germany. Actually, millions of people in Germany should benefit from cannabis treatment. We are not just thinking about pain patients, but also people who suffer from common diseases such as depression, sleep disorders or inflammatory diseases.
Do you expect your platform to grow after partial legalization?
Yes, absolutely, because the law strengthened the medical sector the most. We expect significant growth in the number of patients – logically also via our platform. However, more education is needed because many potential patients do not even know that medical cannabis would be an option for them.
What do you mean?
Many practicing doctors do not use cannabis. To our knowledge, only around two percent of doctors in Germany have already treated patients with medical cannabis, even though this has been legal since 2017. This is certainly due to the fact that cannabis was classified as a narcotic until April and was on the same level as morphine and fentanyl - as a doctor you are of course cautious at first. But we hope that this will now change, also with the increasing number of patients who are then successfully treated with cannabis and spread the word about it.
How expensive is medical cannabis then?
The interesting thing is that cannabis is already cheaper in specialized pharmacies than on the black market. These pharmacies can be found online. Cannabis there already costs around five or six euros per gram. So not only is it cheaper than on the black market, which sounds surreal in itself, but as a pharmaceutically clean active ingredient, the cannabis from the pharmacy is also of a much higher quality that on the black market.
Who would cannabis treatments be suitable for?
In the past, cannabis treatments were intended for very special, extreme cases where other therapies no longer worked. But now experience in cannabis medicine shows that it also helps with many common diseases. First of all, there are the pain patients, from herniated discs to migraines. Then there is also potential for psychiatric illnesses such as depression, sleep disorders or anxiety disorders. ADHD is also a large patient group where traditional medicine often cannot offer much other than Ritalin and cannabis would be an option. And then there is the potential patient group with chronic inflammatory diseases such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis or endometriosis. Here, too, cannabis is often worth at least a therapeutic attempt. I believe that a new era has truly dawned for cannabis as a medicine.