Pharmacies, in favor of medical cannabis and dispensed by professionals

medical cannabis

19 European countries have regulations that recognize the therapeutic purpose of substances extracted from cannabis

The
Official College of Pharmacists of Las Palmashas assessed the regulation of pharmacological products
cannabis derivativeswhich "can improve the lives of thousands of people and reduce suffering" as long as it is "treated like a drug and
dispensed by professionals«.

The president of the College, Loreto Gómez, points out that they must be professionals who
know of its properties, its composition, its risks, the different forms of preparation and consumption, its compatibilities and incompatibilities and the
proportions suitable for consumptionamong other knowledge, those who carry out its control and dispensation«.

Gómez emphasizes that the healing properties of cannabis
“they are not scientifically questionable” because the experience of patient groups or pharmaceutical studies
"they endorse it"as well as the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which has recently included it in Schedule I, which includes drugs with addictive potential but accessible for medical purposes.

Although
19 European countries have regulations that recognize the therapeutic purpose of substances extracted from cannabis, it is now that Spain has begun "to put the
basis for setting standards that will regulate this use« between »the need to respond to the health demand and the fear of opening the door to 'anything goes'«.

From cannabis, details the president of the Las Palmas pharmacists, it is possible to extract
"active principles that improve or complete the treatment of diseases or alleviate their consequences« such as pain, for example, but that »may also have other
uses as cosmetic« because "not all these active principles are addictive".

Thus, cannabidiol (CBD) has anticonvulsant properties
“very marked and does not cause addiction”unlike tetrahydrocannabiloids, which do generate addiction.

Both appear as principles derived from the same plant and, therefore, "when we talk about cannabis we are not just talking about a product, we are talking about
pharmacological principles that can benefit or harm health«.

The General Council of Pharmacists has already assessed
"positively"he recalled, the proposal for conclusions and recommendations approved by the Subcommission for the Purpose of Analyzing Experiences of Regulation of Cannabis for Medicinal Use of the Congress of Deputies, which includes the recommendation to explore "the alternative of community pharmacies that can meet the requirements" to dispense
Master forms with extracts or standardized preparations of cannabis, something that pharmacists have claimed.

Dispensing through the network of
community pharmacies can «be an option that makes compatible the most demanding
public health criteriapatient safety, health education and access with equity criteria«, that is, that »will benefit the patient«.

The Official Association of Pharmacists of Las Palmas has requested that this measure go from "recommendation" to being included in the
"final legislation" that establishes the same conditions for community pharmacies as for hospital pharmacies, thus recognizing "the health role that pharmacists play in today's society".

The president of this entity recalls the risks of the recreational use of cannabis, emphasizing that "it is not the same
controlled dispensing for specific purposes than widespread consumption without control or health objectives«, as is the case with opiates, the group of xanthines or psychoactive drugs.

In his opinion, the cultivation of cannabis
"controlled" and the opening of research centers for their medical use and the production of medicines, could mean "a
new boost to the island economy that could welcome scientists trained in our own universities«.

This is "a moment that goes beyond yes or no", he stresses, because it is about "
regulate production and dispensing of pharmacological products and how to do it«, something that can
improve life of thousands of people and reduce the suffering of patients, as is the case in other European countries.