All registered doctors will be allowed to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products, Health Minister Chris Fearne said today, presenting a bill to this effect.

The proposal will form part of a bill seeking to amend legislation concerning medicinal cannabis, which was enacted in 2015.

The current system stipulates that only specialists are able to provide cannabis-based products, however, amendments will now extend this to all registered doctors.

All products will have to be approved by the local Medicines Authority, the European Authority or be considered a Good Manufactured Product (GMP); and no products will be able to be purchased online to ensure the safety of the patient. Both synthetic and natural products will be made available.

Fearne explained that the bill needed to be implemented as currently both doctors and patients are finding the current system too bureaucratic and do not have access to the medicine.

“There have been strong calls from doctors and patients alike; it is too bureaucratic and they are both finding the current system restrictive,” Fearne said.

The minister stressed that this bill will not allow the smoking of cannabis in its natural form, and did not concern the recreational use of cannabis.

When asked by The Malta Independent, Fearne said that Economy Minister Chris Cardona will announce plans concerning the legalisation of the local manufacturing of cannabis-based medical products.

 

The Superintendent of Public Health Dr Charmaine Gauci explained that medicinal cannabis is used in a variety of patients, specifically when dealing with chronic pain, loss of appetite, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and depression.