The Greek Parliament passed a bill with an extended majority allowing the production of cannabis for medicinal reasons. Apart from the government (SYRIZA and ANEL), the bill was also backed by opposition parties Democratic Alignment and the River, while major opposition party New Democracy (ND), the Communist party (KKE), Golden Dawn and the Union Centrists voted against it.

 ND’s point of contention was that while it did not dispute the usefulness of pharmaceutical cannabis, it objected to the fact that the government legislated without making provisions to ensure an unchecked cultivation on a mass scale and trafficking of cannabis.

During a heated debate in the plenum, an irate Health Minister Andreas Xanthos objected to assertions that Greece was being turned into a vast area of cannabis cultivation. He insisted that it becomes a first important step for patients to have access to formulations that have been proven and documented to have beneficial, relieving and comforting effects, and in some cases, therapeutic results. He underlined that the framework introduced by the bill is clearly defined and offers all the necessary safety precautions. </s> Greece’s parliament has approved a bill allowing the production of medicinal cannabis, with the government coalition and centrist parties voting in favor.

The main opposition New Democracy, the Communist Party, Golden Dawn and the Centrists’ Union voted against.

“We are discussing the licensing of a single, integrated unit that includes production, processing and production of finished medicinal products of hemp. That’s what it is about,” said Health Minister Andreas Xanthos.

The opposition parties that voted in favor of the bill said the framework introduced by the government is neither complete, nor clearly defined, however it is a first step in the right direction.

New Democracy said it does not question the value of medicinal cannabis but is against the way the government is passing laws, because it is not including safeguards to prevent uncontrolled cultivation, production and sale.

The Communist Party not only voted against the bill but called on the ministry to withdraw it, accusing the government of opening up the sector to “vultures” and “murderous multinationals”.

(Source: AMNA) </s> XYLOKASTRO, Greece (Reuters) - Konstantinos Syros turned to cannabis 26 years ago after a motorcycle accident left him with deformed arm and debilitating pain that conventional treatments could not assuage. For years he had to buy it illegally. Now, he plans to grow it himself.

Greece legalized cannabis for medical use last year, and in March this year it lifted a ban on growing and producing it, in the hope of drawing foreign investment into the sector.

The law permitting Greeks to grow cannabis has come as a relief to patients, who say that lifting the ban on using it was only half the battle, as long as it remained hard to get.

The number seeking medicinal cannabis has grown “by thousands,” said Syros, who heads the Organisation for Patients Supporting Medicinal Use of Cannabis and lives off a disability pension. “They call me desperately asking for the medicine and the medicine does not exist.”

Imports of medicinal cannabis products were given the green light last year, but complicated regulations made it difficult to arrange.

Syros said he has been arrested three times for growing cannabis in his home. Now, he has begun growing hemp in a field near his home in Xylokastro, outside Athens, as part of a collective which makes products including creams and oils. He is planning soon to produce medicinal cannabis himself.

Georgis Economopoulos, a neurologist and head of the Greek Association for Therapeutic Cannabis, said thousands of patients in Greece use cannabis for a range of serious conditions.

“It has thrilled patients and their families, who were tortured with having to go abroad to find cannabis,” he said of the law.

Jaqueline Poitras, a member of the Mothers for Cannabis Foundation whose 18-year-old daughter is epileptic, said she had to try 17 different medications with dangerous side effects before using cannabis oil in 2014 to manage seizures.

“If you open the pamphlets in some of these boxes, some of the side effects are things like coma, death,” she said. “This should have been the first drug of choice and not the last drug of choice.”
The Hellenic Parliament passes a bill legalising the use of medical cannabis in Greece. New Democracy, Communist Party, Golden Dawn and the Union of Centrists voted against the government-sponsored bill.