Greek Parliament Approves Cannabis Cultivation, Distribution

Clearly, we need to do more research about cannabis laws in the European Union. We were under the impression they were cool about cannabis over there, when in fact, the opposite is true.

The vast majority of the countries in the European Union prohibit the production, sale, possession, and use of pharmaceutical-grade herbal cannabis, [while] most EU countries allow cannabis-based medicine, such as Sativex, to be prescribed.

An unsurprising outlier is The Netherlands. Long known for space cakes and other delights, also Holland "... has known a liberal drug policy already for several decades, so it is not surprising that the Dutch have been among the first to approach the discussion on medicinal cannabis in a practical way.... Office of Medicinal Cannabis was established in March 2000".

Limited programs are also available in Sweden, Croatia and Italy, with VERY limited licensing, and VERY limited and/or expensive product, available by prescription in others.

Yesterday, Greece crossed over to the The EU Cool Team.

On March 1, Legislators in Greece approved a bill

to regulate medical cannabis cultivation and distribution.

Why is the AMERICAN Cannabis Report running this story?

Months ago (July 4, 2017 to be exact), we ran a story that Greece had legalized medicinal cannabis. While our reporting was accurate, we believe now the announcement itself was a bit premature, given that "... new regulations have been developed by policymakers over recent months, following a ministerial decision in July 2017 to legalise the drug for medical purposes. One could say we made a mistake in parliamentary procedure.

In other words, until yesterday, much like the State of Vermont in January 2018, Greece was acting all cool about cannabis, without allowing any real way to grow, process, distribute, or regulate actual product.

LAST WORD: As of March 1, 2018, Greek patients will have legal access to cannabis medicines. Bravo!