Medical cannabis prescriptions have exploded across Germany since April 01 when its landmark CanG Act was brought into force.
While this rapid expansion has been hailed as a major success story, both for cannabis advocates and for medical cannabis businesses, others are beginning to push back on what they see as a pseudo-recreational market.
Mirroring the recent crackdown of medical cannabis prescriptions in Poland over concerns of misuse, calls are now being heard for regulators to tighten the restrictions around prescriptions in Germany.
However, the number of prescriptions is largely expected to expand even further amid an imminent overhaul of prescriptions via statutory health insurance, which will significantly reduce the red tape around patients receiving reimbursement for their medical cannabis treatment.
Despite rolling out one of the most progressive cannabis liberalisation programmes in Europe this year, many German citizens still have severely restricted access to cannabis for recreational purposes.
Since July, cannabis social clubs have been able to apply for licences, but as Business of Cannabis reported last week, meaningful progress on this front remains slow and hampered by bureaucratic hurdles.
Of course, the law also permits the cultivation of up to three cannabis plants at home, but the number of citizens with the skill, time, space and resources to do so is limited, not to mention the quality of homegrown cannabis is likely to be inferior to that available on the black market.
However, with the easing of restrictions on medical cannabis prescriptions and cost pressures meaning that prices per gram are in line with, if not cheaper than from their local dealer, many are understandably turning to the rapidly expanding market to access recreational cannabis.
In a note published last month, Dr. Markus Veit, Chairman of the expert group Medical Cannabis of the DPhG Pharmaceutical Biology Division, said that in the first few weeks after legalisation, ‘companies or groups of companies are advertising for (new) “patients” with telemedical “offers,”’ often bypassing traditional medical protocols.
The article argues that ‘telemedicine concepts… make it almost impossible for the prescribing doctors to meet their duty of care and obligations for no-label use.’
As such, the DPhG expert group has called for stricter regulations on telemedicine prescriptions, arguing that the current practices could lead to abuses that ultimately harm patients and the cannabis industry.
Elsewhere, Lower Saxony’s Minister of Health, Andreas Philippi, has also voiced his concerns over the recent flood of new prescriptions.
Despite coming from the same party as the architect of the CanG Act, Karl Lauterbach, Philippi told Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung: “It should not be the case that smoking medicinal cannabis in a worry-free package is made so easy with just three clicks on the internet.”
He added that the federal government must ‘urgently take corrective action to stem an unwanted flood of medical cannabis,’ while accusing telemedicine platforms of taking advantage of ‘legal loopholes’.
Although this trend may be increasing, it is nothing new or that surprising. A study from 2021 revealed a significant rise in private prescriptions, especially for cannabis flowers, with men under 40 being the predominant recipients.
The study found that 70.6% of prescriptions were private, with an average prescription amount lower than those covered by statutory health insurance. It concluded that cannabis is being supplied in ways that may not align with legislative intent, raising concerns about the misuse of private prescriptions for non-intended purposes.
With calls for stricter regulation increasing, a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Health stressed that cannabis for medical purposes may only be prescribed as a medicine with a medical reason, adding that it will ‘continue to closely monitor’ the situation.
One industry source, speaking to Business of Cannabis anonymously, believes that the health ministry is likely to crack down on the market soon, meaning the businesses currently reporting runaway revenues are likely unsustainable.
In light of a potential crackdown looming, they suggested many such businesses are now looking to sell majority stakes and cash out before this happens.
Others were more optimistic, however, suggesting that the government widely expected the market to become a medical/recreational hybrid, but refrained from voicing this explicitly due to the potential political consequences.
Furthermore, as we’ll be exploring in more detail next week, the growth of the medical prescription market may soon accelerate even further amid a significant relaxation of rules around prescriptions via medical insurance.
With an estimated 600,000 patients currently thought to be accessing medical cannabis, but a projected 5 or 6m who could potentially be helped by the treatment, without any government intervention, its likely the market will continue to expand at pace.
The post Calls to Restrict Medical Cannabis Prescriptions in Germany Grow as the Flourishing Market Shows No Signs of Slowing Down appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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While this rapid expansion has been hailed as a major success story, both for cannabis advocates and for medical cannabis businesses, others are beginning to push back on what they see as a pseudo-recreational market.
Mirroring the recent crackdown of medical cannabis prescriptions in Poland over concerns of misuse, calls are now being heard for regulators to tighten the restrictions around prescriptions in Germany.
However, the number of prescriptions is largely expected to expand even further amid an imminent overhaul of prescriptions via statutory health insurance, which will significantly reduce the red tape around patients receiving reimbursement for their medical cannabis treatment.
What happened?
Despite rolling out one of the most progressive cannabis liberalisation programmes in Europe this year, many German citizens still have severely restricted access to cannabis for recreational purposes.
Since July, cannabis social clubs have been able to apply for licences, but as Business of Cannabis reported last week, meaningful progress on this front remains slow and hampered by bureaucratic hurdles.
Of course, the law also permits the cultivation of up to three cannabis plants at home, but the number of citizens with the skill, time, space and resources to do so is limited, not to mention the quality of homegrown cannabis is likely to be inferior to that available on the black market.
However, with the easing of restrictions on medical cannabis prescriptions and cost pressures meaning that prices per gram are in line with, if not cheaper than from their local dealer, many are understandably turning to the rapidly expanding market to access recreational cannabis.
In a note published last month, Dr. Markus Veit, Chairman of the expert group Medical Cannabis of the DPhG Pharmaceutical Biology Division, said that in the first few weeks after legalisation, ‘companies or groups of companies are advertising for (new) “patients” with telemedical “offers,”’ often bypassing traditional medical protocols.
The article argues that ‘telemedicine concepts… make it almost impossible for the prescribing doctors to meet their duty of care and obligations for no-label use.’
As such, the DPhG expert group has called for stricter regulations on telemedicine prescriptions, arguing that the current practices could lead to abuses that ultimately harm patients and the cannabis industry.
Growing calls for reform
Elsewhere, Lower Saxony’s Minister of Health, Andreas Philippi, has also voiced his concerns over the recent flood of new prescriptions.
Despite coming from the same party as the architect of the CanG Act, Karl Lauterbach, Philippi told Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung: “It should not be the case that smoking medicinal cannabis in a worry-free package is made so easy with just three clicks on the internet.”
He added that the federal government must ‘urgently take corrective action to stem an unwanted flood of medical cannabis,’ while accusing telemedicine platforms of taking advantage of ‘legal loopholes’.
Although this trend may be increasing, it is nothing new or that surprising. A study from 2021 revealed a significant rise in private prescriptions, especially for cannabis flowers, with men under 40 being the predominant recipients.
The study found that 70.6% of prescriptions were private, with an average prescription amount lower than those covered by statutory health insurance. It concluded that cannabis is being supplied in ways that may not align with legislative intent, raising concerns about the misuse of private prescriptions for non-intended purposes.
‘There is going to be a reckoning’
With calls for stricter regulation increasing, a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Health stressed that cannabis for medical purposes may only be prescribed as a medicine with a medical reason, adding that it will ‘continue to closely monitor’ the situation.
One industry source, speaking to Business of Cannabis anonymously, believes that the health ministry is likely to crack down on the market soon, meaning the businesses currently reporting runaway revenues are likely unsustainable.
In light of a potential crackdown looming, they suggested many such businesses are now looking to sell majority stakes and cash out before this happens.
Others were more optimistic, however, suggesting that the government widely expected the market to become a medical/recreational hybrid, but refrained from voicing this explicitly due to the potential political consequences.
Furthermore, as we’ll be exploring in more detail next week, the growth of the medical prescription market may soon accelerate even further amid a significant relaxation of rules around prescriptions via medical insurance.
With an estimated 600,000 patients currently thought to be accessing medical cannabis, but a projected 5 or 6m who could potentially be helped by the treatment, without any government intervention, its likely the market will continue to expand at pace.
The post Calls to Restrict Medical Cannabis Prescriptions in Germany Grow as the Flourishing Market Shows No Signs of Slowing Down appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
Continue reading...