The conference “Legalization of cannabis for medical purposes – how to speed up the process?” for the first time on this topic in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina brought together representatives of numerous institutions in the country.
The conference is attended, among other things, by representatives of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, members of parliament at different levels of government, representatives of the FBiH Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the RS, clinical centers in BiH, SIPA and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, entity police and Brčko districts of BiH, the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices and other state agencies, institutes, as well as members of the academic community, pharmacists and representatives of associations and inspections.
Saša Magazinović, a member of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly and the strongest proponent of this initiative in that institution, said that all sick people who use cannabis oil expect to be able to use it in a legal way.
“They expect to be treated by doctors instead of dealers and to buy cannabis oil in pharmacies instead of in dark parks. If it is not clear to anyone, we are talking, and it is important to emphasize this, about a large number of people who suffer from great pain, who suffer from autoimmune diseases diseases, malignant diseases, neurological disorders… we are talking about people whose quality of life is significantly impaired. We are all here because of these people,” said Magazinović.
He added that the conference is attended by people who make decisions, execute them and deal with this topic legally, security-wise and scientifically.
“There will be people from different institutions, different political orientations and many differences, but with a common goal, to finally enable the use of cannabis for medical purposes,” said Magazinović.
He said that he has been dealing with this topic for four years and that through his work on this issue he was in communication with hundreds of people who used cannabis oil illegally.
“They are the motivation to push this story to the end. Once the story of cannabis legalization was a progressive idea, today it is no longer, today it is our international obligation. Three years ago, the UN Commission on Drugs removed cannabis from the list of prohibited substances and transferred it to column two – allowed under special control. That’s what we need,” he said.
Nataša Grubiša, director of the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that in order to protect the health of their patients, they want to have clear, high-quality and controlled medicines through the initiative.
“At the moment, we do not know what kind of resins our patients receive, we do not know how they are dosed, in what way they receive them, and we are aware that our doctors themselves buy them, because when we get into a situation we do not choose the means. In this at the moment we are all actors, not to mention some acts, not to name them, but we are aware that we have to enter not only because of the Convention that the UN mandates us to do, but we want our citizens to receive safe, effective and high-quality medicines,” said Grubiša.
Nediljko Rimac, Minister of Health of the Federation of BiH, stated that today’s topic is extremely important for BiH and added that the Federal Ministry of Health supported this initiative in order to seek quality legal solutions.
“I, as a doctor, before becoming the head of the ministry, was engaged in oncological surgery myself, I know how much cannabis was abused in suppressing severe pain,” said Rimac, adding that the goal of today’s event is to enable patients to get the necessary preparation in a legal way, AA reports.
