Pubdate: Sat, 16 Nov 2013
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Author: Karel Janicek, Associated Press

CZECHS FACE QUANDARY OVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA

TYN NAD VLTAVOU, Czech Republic (AP) - Just three years ago, the only 
thing that Zdenek Majzlik knew about cannabis was that it's good 
stuff for making rope. Today, the 67-year-old retired nuclear power 
plant employee is an experienced grower who cultivates pot for his 
daughter, who has multiple sclerosis.

Majzlik faces a thorny dilemma: The Czech Republic legalized medical 
marijuana use this year but maintained strict restrictions on 
growing, selling and importing it. For Majzlik, the solution is 
breaking the law to grow pot for his daughter.

"She's my child, and it is my duty to take care of her," he said, 
standing in front of a cannabis plant in his garden. "I do what I 
have to, and I will continue doing so. I have no other option."

Medical marijuana is legal in a number of European countries, Israel 
and 20 U.S. states as well the District of Columbia. Advocates say it 
gives patients relief from the debilitating symptoms of illnesses 
including cancer, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, where 
more conventional treatment fails.

The Czech Republic's parliament legalized medical marijuana this year 
by an overwhelming majority, with the law becoming effective April 1. 
But some 20,000 patients who are estimated to be eligible for 
cannabis treatment have no chance to get it legally - although so far 
police have largely ignored renegade growers such as Majzlik who 
technically would face prison.

Patients and medical experts blame interference by the Health 
Ministry, which has long fiercely opposed legalizing medical marijuana.

"There's a very consistent effort from the Ministry of Health not to 
make the law really enforced," said Dr. Tomas Zabransky, a U.N. and 
EU adviser on drug issues. The ministry denies deliberately blocking 
access to medical marijuana, but few question that its policies have 
raised steep barriers for patients to access pot legally.

The Health Ministry and its State Institute for Drug Control, the 
nation's drug agency, banned health insurance companies from covering 
the cost of medical marijuana, and set the maximum amount patients 
are allowed at 30 grams per month, an amount Zabransky says often 
falls woefully short of providing effective relief.

The government also banned treatment for those younger than 18 and 
allowed imports of just four types of cannabis that can be obtained 
only from the Netherlands at a cost of about $10 per gram - 
prohibitive for most patients in a nation where the average monthly 
salary is $1,300 and the average pension is $500.

The government said it restricted legal use to these four types from 
the Dutch marijuana monopoly to ensure quality. Health Ministry 
spokeswoman Dana Salamunova said medical marijuana is not covered by 
insurance because the "positive effects of cannabis have not been 
clearly clinically proven."

So far, two licenses have been issued allowing import and 
distribution of marijuana, and Salamunova said the cannabis approved 
under those licenses may hit pharmacies in December. But the 
pharmacies won't be able to legally sell it until an electronic 
registry is set up to record prescriptions, sales and patient 
information - and it's not clear when it will be up and running.

The law currently only allows medical cannabis to be imported. The 
Czech drug agency plans to call a public tender in April for up to 10 
licenses to grow an unspecified amount of medical marijuana. The 
winning bidders won't be able to start growing until they've been 
issued licenses.

Jindrich Voboril, the government's national drug coordinator, said 
the conditions for obtaining medical marijuana are "unnecessarily 
limiting and discriminating."

Under current rules the illegal market will continue to be the main 
supply source, a situation Voboril calls "unacceptable."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom