IACM The Netherlands: Patients Receive Cannabis from Pharmacies
BBSNews - 2003-08-31 -- Dutch patients with a doctor's prescription will be able to obtain
cannabis from chemists starting from 1 September. Pharmacies
will offer two sorts of cannabis, with the cheapest batch priced at
40 EUR per five grams, and the other variant 50-55 EUR per five
grams. But the pharmacy association KNMP said patients will
have to pay for their cannabis themselves because the drug is not
yet included in the ziekenfonds health insurance scheme as a
claimable reimbursement.
The chemist-supplied cannabis is more expensive than the
cannabis sold in coffee shops, where users can buy a gram for
prices ranging between 5 and 6 EUR. Two Dutch cultivators, The
Stichting Institute of Medical Marijuana and the firm Bedrocan
are supplying pharmacists with the cannabis, making them the first
legal suppliers of the drug in Europe. The Office for Medicinal
Cannabis of the Health Ministry inspects the cannabis for quality
control and organises its distribution.
Cannabis had been inoffically available in pharmacies for several
years provided by the Dutch firm Maripharm. On 17 March 2003
a change of the narcotic law took effect that paved the way for a
legal supply.
More in the presentation of Willem Scholten of the Office of
Medicinal Cannabis at the IACM 2nd Conference on
Cannabinoids in Medicine: http://www.Cologne2003.org
(Source: Expatica.com of 29 August 2003)
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The preceding report was provided to BBSNews by the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine (IACM).
Michael Hess is the Editor of BBSNews in Charlotte, NC. Write to the editor here. Not all submissions are published. Or visit the completely new BBSNews Blog and Forum on our front page - Please Participate in BBSNews!
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