Portuguese Parliament Approves Bill to Legalize Cannabis-based Medicines
A ship sails outside a bay in Portugal at sunset.
In a country where drug use is already decriminalized, a medical cannabis bill now waits on President Marcelo Rebelo de Souza’s desk for approval. On June 15th, the Portuguese Parliament gave its stamp of approval for cannabis-based medicine. Members of Parliament came together in approval with only one political party, the center-right Popular Party, abstaining from the vote.
With the green light from the Portuguese Parliament, the bill now heads to the president for his signature. An approval from President Rebelo de Souza would bring the law into effect officially on July 1. This would be a significant move forward for the country in terms of cannabis policy.
Portugal became the first nation in the European Union to decriminalize possession of any illegal drug in 2001. While drug use has been decriminalized for many years in an effort to curve the nation’s past heroin epidemic, Portugal is still behind some of its fellow European nations in terms of progressive legislation for medical cannabis. By legalizing medical cannabis as a prescription drug, patients would be able to treat conditions such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, chronic pain and the grueling side effects caused by cancer therapy.
The medical cannabis sold in pharmacies as prescriptions under this new law would be need licensing and approval from Infarmed, the official regulator. Infarmed shares on its official website that its main goal’s concern, “the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines and the quality, safety and performance of health products in order to avoid the risks of their use while ensuring adequate standards of public health and (the) consumer’s protection.” The same government agency oversaw the approval for a medical cannabis plantation located in Central Portugal last year.
Considering Portugal’s previous progressive moves on controlled substances, the global cannabis community eagerly awaits to see what else the country has in store.
