Medical cannabis is increasingly being used in the Czech Republic to treat chronic pain and support cancer and other serious illnesses. Previously, only specialised doctors were permitted to prescribe cannabis, but now GPs will also have the opportunity to offer this treatment. This change is part of an amendment to the regulations, set to come into force in April this year.
Medical cannabis is most commonly prescribed for chronic pain, particularly when other medications are not effective. Other uses include supporting cancer treatment and alleviating the side effects of chemotherapy, AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. According to a report by the news portal iDnes.cz, around 250 specialised doctors in the Czech Republic have been authorised to prescribe cannabis. In the future, however, general practitioners will also be able to do so.
“The Ministry of Health has concluded that it is justified to extend the indication for ‘chronic, unbearable pain’ to include general practitioners. For all other indications, cannabis prescriptions should continue to be reserved for medical specialists,” reads the ministry’s justification for the decree.
In the field of palliative care—i.e. the care of terminally ill and dying patients, as well as children with oncological or haemato-oncological diagnoses—it will also be possible to prescribe medicinal cannabis for patients under the age of 18. Additionally, doctors will no longer be required to submit detailed annual data on all patients and their treatment with cannabis to the State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL).
Since the introduction of cannabis treatment in the Czech Republic in 2015, doctors have prescribed nearly 940 kilograms of cannabis in total. According to the law, patients are entitled to a maximum of 180 grams of dried cannabis per month or an equivalent amount of cannabis extract.
The legal basis for the use of cannabis for medical purposes was established in 2013, with the first patients gaining access just one year later. Since 2020, health insurance companies have covered 90 percent of the costs of medical cannabis, but only up to a maximum of 30 grams per month.
