A petition calling for the legalization of the use of cannabis for medicinal reasons in Ukraine on the Verkhovna Rada website on Jan. 30 has already drawn 6,600 signatures and the support of Acting Health Minister Ulana Suprun.
The head of the Ukrainian Association of Medical Cannabis, the lawyer Gennadii Shabas created the petition with the backing of 16 public organizations. The petition said that medical cannabis could greatly help over two million Ukrainians suffering from a wide range of ailments, including epilepsy, cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“They are all suffering daily from an inability to use effective medical treatments,” Shabas wrote in the petition. “This torture must stop, and we have a real ability to do so — if we give our citizens access to effective treatments that are being used by millions of people in civilized countries.”
Ukraine outlaws the possession, sale and production of marijuana for any reason, even medical research.
The petition calls for the “observance of the human right to access and use effective medicines, including those made from hemp,” the creation of “appropriate conditions for the full-fledged use of plants in medical and scientific activities,” and settling “the issue of the legal circulation of products containing cannabinoids” for personal use, as directed by a doctor.
In order for the petition to proceed to the Rada for review, it must collect 25,000 signatures by April 30.
Acting healthcare minister Suprun took to her Facebook page on Jan. 31 to explain what medical cannabis can do and express cautious support for its use in a range of illnesses.
“Yesterday, a petition was filed on the Verkhovna Rada’s site demanding legislative amendments so that cannabis could be used for medical and scientific purposes. Is such a use justified?” Suprun wrote. “Scientists, doctors and patients around the world say that it is.”
“Medical cannabis helps ease patients’ suffering and normalize their well-being across a range of serious illnesses. That’s why its use in medicine, of course with certain restrictions, is normal practice worldwide.”
Suprun pointed to the fact that medical marijuana has many known therapeutic uses and is legal in Australia, Canada, and 25 U.S. states.
Suprun said the human body produces its own endocannabinoids — neurotransmitters tied to the regulation of sleep, appetite, calmness and memory. Research shows that disorders like migraines, fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome are linked to insufficient endocannabinoid production. Marijuana contains its own cannabinoids, which can bind to specialized endocannabinoid receptors in human nerve cells.
Two of the most important cannabinoids in marijuana are Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which has some psychotropic effects, and Cannabidiol (CBD), which can act as an analgesic and calming agent. CBD is predominant in medicinal cannabis.
According to Suprun, medicinal cannabis can also be used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease, palliative cancer care, chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, sclerosis and epilepsy. She warned, however, that cannabis has side effects including memory disruption, dizziness and respiratory illness.
As of the afternoon of Feb. 1, her statement had drawn close to 10,000 likes.
In a phone call with Kyiv Post, Shabas praised Suprun as a “progressive minister,” with significant international health care experience.
When asked his opinion on the likelihood of the legislation being forwarded to the Rada for debate, he said that no other recent petition to the Rada has attracted such a surge of attention.
