LATEST ALERTS
14th October 2024
Cannabis – medical
News analysisMore News analysis
Global business and regulatory news covering the cannabis industry
New trial available: Click on any alert below and access our regulatory alerts and get timely notifications sent to your inbox for 7 days.
Daily regulatory updates of legal changes in the cannabis sector, including monthly compilations
15th October 2024
- Uruguay: A new, more potent cannabis variant, epsilon, will be sold in pharmacies beginning today, press reports. In September, the Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis approved the new variant, which contains up to 15% THC, for sale in pharmacies without a prescription. The most potent of the other three approved varieties only contains up to about 12% THC.
14th October 2024
- France: The government has presented the Social Security Financing Bill for 2025, and there are currently no amendments proposed to extend the medical cannabis experiment for another year. However, such amendments are likely to be introduced, considering that the implementation of the new framework for cannabis-based medicines, originally planned for 2025, has been delayed until 2026 due to political and administrative setbacks.
10th October 2024
- Ukraine: The Ministry of Health reports that businesses which already have a valid drug licence can start working with medical cannabis. First they must register the plant substance of cannabis as an active pharmaceutical ingredient in the State Register of Medicinal Products.
3rd October 2024
- Ukraine: As announced by deputy minister of health Maria Karchevych, pharmacies that will dispense cannabis-based medicine have begun registration in the electronic accounting system for the circulation of medical cannabis (ESORK), media reports.
2nd October 2024
- Ukraine: The Cabinet of Ministers has updated the licensing conditions that regulate all stages of circulation of medical cannabis, the Ministry of Health reports. It includes the processes for cultivation, production, storage, transportation, sale, import and export, use, and disposal of plants and medicines made from raw materials. The adopted resolution contains an exhaustive list of documents required for obtaining a licence and conditions for its issuance. It enters into force two months after the publication date (end of November).
1st October 2024
- Spain: The Ministry of Health has published a draft bill on medical cannabis. The bill, following the recommendations from the Subcommittee on Medicinal Cannabis, regulates the conditions for the prescription, manufacture and use of cannabis magistral formulations. Under the draft, cannabis will only be dispensed at hospital pharmacies to patients who suffer from any of the listed pathologies. It also establishes the creation of a registry of formulations. The draft will be open for public consultation until 21st October.
1st October 2024
- Costa Rica: The Constitutional Court ordered the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to regulate law 10113, which governs the medicinal and industrial use of cannabis, within two months from the notification of the ruling. Despite the law being enacted in March 2022 and requiring regulations to be issued within six months, the process has faced delays due to technical issues and contradictions with Central American regulations. The court upheld an appeal criticising the two-year delay, requiring the ministries to finalise the regulations within the specified timeframe, press reports.
1st October 2024
- US - Arkansas: The Arkansas secretary of state has determined that a proposed ballot initiative to increase access to medical cannabis did not gain enough valid signatures to reach the ballot in November. Among other reforms, the proposal would have allowed for the home cultivation of medical cannabis by qualified patients, expanded definitions to allow more healthcare professions to certify patients, and significantly expanded the medical conditions for which medical cannabis can be given. Organisers of the ballot petition said they will pursue legal action against the decision, press reports.
1st October 2024
- New Zealand: The dried cannabis flower for preparation of tea for oral consumption ANTG Duke has been verified by the Medicinal Cannabis Agency as meeting the minimum quality standard required to be supplied in New Zealand.
30th September 2024
- Austria: The far-right Freedom Party (FPO) has won the elections with 28.8% of the vote and will now have to form a coalition government. As a conservative party, its position on cannabis regulation is likely to remain the same, especially over strict regulations on recreational use.
30th September 2024
- Ukraine: The Ministry of Health has published a list of diseases and conditions for which patients can be prescribed medical cannabis. These include chronic conditions or neuropathic pain and/or spasticity due to the following diseases: malignant neoplasms, diabetic neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, damage to the trigeminal and facial nerve, neuralgia due to shingles, damage to nerve roots and plexuses, compression of nerve roots and plexuses in diseases, mononeuropathy of the upper limb, mononeuropathy of the lower limb, polyneuropathies and other lesions of the peripheral nervous system, cerebral palsy and other paralytic syndromes, spinal cord injuries, and intracranial injuries. The list also includes nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy during treatment of neoplasms, Parkinson’s disease, Tourette syndrome, refractory (drug-resistant) epilepsy, diseases causing seizures in childhood (Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome, tuberous sclerosis), and weight loss associated with anorexia in patients with HIV. Other diseases could be also treated with medical cannabis, but only based on the opinion of the medical and advisory commission.
27th September 2024
- US - Kentucky: The Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis has issued its first medical cannabis licence, press reports. The licence was awarded to a testing laboratory in a milestone for establishing a medical cannabis programme in the state. Medical cannabis was legalised in 2023, but the enabling law does not take effect until the beginning of 2025. Cultivation and processing licences will be issued via lottery on 28th October, while dispensary licences will be issued shortly thereafter.
Market reports
Full-length in-depth reports with detailed data and analysis for individual markets around the world
More Market reports
Regulatory reports
Comprehensive legal reports outlining how the sector is regulated, interpretation of the laws and relevant bodies
More Regulatory reports
Market dataMore Market data
Up-to-date information and insights on brands, pricing and retail across selected markets
Regulatory databases
Regularly updated global regulations currently in place, compiled into easy-to-read maps and tables
More Regulatory databases
