Today, on December 21, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved in the second reading and in its entirety the bill on the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes.
This was reported by the First Deputy Head of the Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy, MP from the “Voice” faction, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, on Telegram.
He noted that the draft law “On the regulation of the circulation of plants of the genus Cannabis for medical, industrial purposes, scientific, and scientific-technical activities to expand patient access to necessary treatment for oncological diseases and post-traumatic stress disorders caused by war” (No. 7457) was supported by 248 parliamentarians.
The bill regulates the circulation of cannabis only in medical, industrial, and scientific activities. The distribution of marijuana for recreational use will continue to be considered a crime and will be investigated by the police in accordance with the law. The production of medicines will be strictly controlled at all stages.
“Only legal entities that obtain the appropriate license and GMP certificate will be able to cultivate it, under round-the-clock video surveillance with access for the National Police. Each plant will have individual coding to track its movement to the patient,” added the parliamentarian.
“The law comes into force six months after its publication. Therefore, this is somewhere in the second half of 2024,” Zhelezniak writes.