Federal Chamber of Pharmacists calls for evaluation of cannabis as a medicinal product

Cannabis is now widely used in Germany for medical purposes, with the last also a self-cultivation of patients was made possible by court decision. In a recent press release, the Federal Chamber of Pharmacists (BAK) has now advocated consistently treating medically prescribed cannabis as a medicine.

Cannabis must be equated with the medicinal products in a medical use, so the demand of the BAK. This applies to the use of dried plant parts as well as to preparations made of cannabis. The President of the Federal Chamber of Pharmacists, Dr. med. Andreas Kiefer, emphasizes that "all medicines belong in the hands of the pharmacist". Become a doctor prescribed cannabis for pain and thus has the function of a drug, "then it must be equal to other drugs," said Kiefer. This means that the cannabis must be "prescribed by the doctor, checked by the pharmacist and given and paid by the health insurance".

Definition of quality requirements required
According to BAK's demands, "the same quality standards for cannabis flowers from cultivation to application as for all other medicinal products must be applied." This presupposes a definition of the pharmaceutical quality requirements in a monograph, for example in the Deutscher Arzneimittel Codex (DAC). At such a currently being worked intensively.

Federal Pharmacist's Chamber against self-cultivation
According to the BAK, the "self-cultivation conservatory" is not suitable for the medical use of cannabis, since the adherence to the high quality standards, which are to be applied to medicinal products for reasons of drug safety, are not guaranteed here. "Therefore, we can not approve the legalization of the self-cultivation"; said the BAK president. However, for many affected people, care can only be financed in this way. Therefore, the costs for medically prescribed cannabis must be covered by the health insurance, the BAK demands. This should "apply to all prescription medicines containing cannabis or its preparations", according to the notification of the Federal Chamber of Pharmacists.

Health insurance companies should pay for cannabis
If a seriously ill patient is prescribed by his doctor "cannabis, the health insurance fund must pay for this medicine," emphasizes the BAK President. A two-class pharmacy will definitely rejected. "Regardless of their economic performance, all patients have the same right to medicines that meet uniform pharmaceutical quality requirements," continues Kiefer. The quality requirements are also one of the main arguments of the Federal Government against the self-cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes. However, in this case, care through the pharmacies must be ensured in every case, and the occasional supply bottlenecks must be avoided in the interests of the patients. (Fp)

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