Medical cannabis will soon be a state-subsidized medication for certain patients in Denmark, writes Calvin Hughes.

New laws spawn a growth in the industry as 12 permits are issues, with three more impending.

Denmark will soon become one of the largest medical cannabis producers in Europe.

Since December 2017, the Laegemiddelstyrelsen medicines agency has issued 12 permits to companies to produce medical cannabis.

The authorisations followed last year’s parliamentary approval of a four-year trial for doctors to prescribe medical cannabis to patients, which began on January 1.

Since this approval, 17 companies have sought the right to produce medical cannabis in Denmark. Two were rejected and three are still awaiting a decision.

“Are you high right now?” This was a genuine question I received when telling someone I take medicinal cannabis for my chronic pain. “Aren’t you worried about psychosis?” was another one. I was never asked anything like this when I told people I was taking high doses of morphine, a powerful synthetic opiate, which incidentally did make me feel high and slightly unbalanced amongst other side effects. As this is a normalised drug and legal there were no question marks about my using it, despite the evidence that it is heavily addictive with fundamental side effects.

Illegal oil particularly showing up more often in packages from abroad.

It seems as if oil derived from hemp plants is become increasingly popular in Denmark, at least according to new figures from the state police and the tax authority SKAT.

The police confiscated almost 1,000 containers of cannabis oil in May and June this year alone – over twice as many as the 408 taken over the whole of 2016.

SKAT backs up the trend, noting that cannabis oil is increasingly making its way into Denmark in packages sent from abroad.

“Specifically cannabis oil is something that has begun turning up more in the last couple of years,” Preben Buchholtz, a deputy head at SKAT’s customs department, told DR Nyheder.

THC zero-tolerance

Epilepsy Hospital Filadelfia, in the Danish town of Dianalund, has begun treating patients with medicinal cannabis. This is only part of Denmark's new pilot project to estimate the benefits of the use of medicinal cannabis by certain types of patients.

Although marijuana is not yet the doctor's preferred choice in Denmark, whose hospitals rather prefer conservative treatment, a pilot project to estimate the positive effects of cannabis was approved of in November 2016. During the trial period for the use of raw, unprocessed cannabis, about 1,500 patients are looking forward for a pain-relieving effect.