"Green clinics" in Poland to be closed. They want changes to marijuana regulations.
- A petitioner approached the Ministry of Health asking for legislative action regarding the regulation of products containing hemp other than fiber hemp.
- - The gap became the foundation for the phenomenon referred to in public debate as "green clinics" - the author pointed out
- - Currently available tools for supervision over the prescription process seem to be insufficient from the point of view of effective protection of the public interest - replied Deputy Minister Kuba Sękowski
- The Deputy Minister of Health assured that the issues raised would be taken into account when amending the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction.
A petition was submitted to the Ministry of Health regarding the necessary legislative actions specifying detailed rules for the prescription and monitoring of medicinal products containing pharmaceutical raw material from hemp other than fibrous hemp and medicinal products containing psychotropic substances or narcotic drugs.
In the petition, the author indicates that he is requesting action regarding medicinal products:
- containing pharmaceutical raw material from hemp other than fibrous hemp, referred to in Article 33a of the Act of 29 July 2005 on counteracting drug addiction;
- and opioid products containing psychotropic substances or narcotics, used in pain therapy.
In its justification, the petitioner pointed out that in recent years the Polish healthcare system has revealed a serious regulatory gap in the prescription of the products mentioned above.
– The loophole has become the foundation for the phenomenon referred to in public debate as "green clinics," i.e. medical entities operating in a quasi-business model whose activities essentially boil down to issuing prescriptions for so-called medical marijuana without proper verification of clinical indications and outside the framework of the actual, justified health needs of patients – the justification states.
The author emphasizes that the proposed regulations are a response to the observed practice of issuing prescriptions for a fee based on minimal or questionable clinical evidence. "This leads to therapeutic abuse, indication inflation, and circumvention of the rationale of the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction," he concluded.
Kuba Sękowski , Deputy Director of the Department of Public Health, responded on behalf of the Ministry of Health. He emphasized at the outset that the Ministry of Health is taking steps to regulate this issue.
"Although medical marijuana therapy is not a first-line treatment and should be considered an alternative to other treatment methods, recent years have seen a rapidly growing popularity of prescription medications containing the raw material cannabis and so-called prescription machines. Currently available tools for overseeing the prescription process appear to be insufficient to effectively protect the public interest," the Deputy Minister replied.
He added that it seems justified to implement tools that can significantly strengthen the control over the prescription of cannabis and opioid products, limiting their prescription in cases not based on justified medical indications. He also recalled that, according to the draft Broad Amendment to the Reimbursement Act, the obligation to report to the Integrated System for Monitoring Trade in Medicinal Products (ZSMOPL) will be extended to pharmaceutical raw materials (thus including trade in pharmaceutical raw materials based on cannabis other than fibrous hemp).
He also recalled that the amendment to the regulation of the Ministry of Health on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, category 1 precursors and preparations containing these drugs or substances resulted in an approximately 32% reduction in the prescription of prescription drugs using pharmaceutical raw materials of hemp origin in the January-October 2024 comparison compared to the same period in 2025.
An important change in the regulation was the introduction of a list of medicines for which the issuance of a prescription will have to be preceded by a personal examination of the patient:
- fentanyl,
- morphine,
- oxycodone,
- hemp herb other than fibrous and extracts, pharmaceutical tinctures, as well as all other extracts of hemp other than fibrous,
- cannabis resin.
At the same time, he reminded that the continuation of treatment with the drug depends on the principle of a personal examination of the patient, and the person issuing the prescription is the family doctor. "A prescription issued for preparations containing group IN narcotic drugs and group II-P psychotropic substances may be for an amount of the drug or substance that does not exceed the patient's needs for a maximum of 90 days of use. Up to three prescriptions may be issued for consecutive periods of use not exceeding a total of 90 days of use. Furthermore, a prescription for a preparation containing a group IN or II-N narcotic drug, a group II-P, III-P, or IV-P psychotropic substance, or a category 1 precursor may be issued if more than three months have passed since the patient's last examination," Sękowski added.
He agreed with the justification for some of the proposals contained in the petition, but also noted that extensive consultations were necessary. He agreed that it was necessary to rationalize access to cannabis herbal preparations and other fibrous substances.
"It's important to emphasize that preparing a reliable and comprehensive draft government document that would comprehensively regulate the medical use of non-fibrous cannabis preparations—including the cultivation of cannabis plants, ensuring adequate supplies of raw materials, prescription, distribution, and finally, the use of these preparations by patients—requires extensive public consultations and agreements with other public entities whose remit encompasses these matters," he concluded. He assured that the issues raised would be taken into account when amending the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction.
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