Balkan States Take Steps Towards Medical Cannabis Legalization

Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia are the first of the former Yugoslavian states to plan for medical cannabis legalization.

According to Cannabis Business News, MGC Pharmaceuticals, a company based in Australia, is planning to distribute cannabis medicine in those three states. They are partnering with Mikro+Polo, a Slovenian supplier, and they will provide medicine with phytocannabinoid-derived Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) to the people of the Balkan states.

The company’s share price rose by 20 percent since they signed this deal, one that will greatly expand their market. The company harvested their first test crop in Slovenia last year, and have established a facility in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovania, where they isolate cannabidiol (CBD) to make things like skincare ointment and other CBD-infused products.

Croatia made history last year when they became the first Balkan country with any form of medical cannabis. They already allow citizens to purchase cannabis to treat serious illness. While no doctors can yet prescribe cannabis, it is available for those who qualify.

Currently, each patient can receive up to 0.75 grams of THC per month, either in flower or extract form. However, Croatian residents are not free to grow their own cannabis.

Slovenia and Bosnia do not yet have medical cannabis, even though there has been some pressure in the area to take the step towards legalization. However, the two states are currently allowing CBD-heavy strains derived by MGC to be purchased and used. Slovenia is also considering removing cannabis from its current Schedule I status.

While this is a small step towards a full-on end to prohibition, it is an important one for medical patients in the Balkan states, and one that will also help to further the emerging cannabis pharmaceutical market. As more medical allowances are made in this part of the world, the stigma surrounding cannabis will be removed.