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The Polish Pivot: What Happens When Telehealth Meets Regulation

Over the past few years, telemedicine has reshaped how patients access medical cannabis, launching a wave of digital clinics across Europe and beyond. But now, that wave is breaking.

In this special series, Business of Cannabis investigates the global backlash facing cannabis telehealth. Through the lens of Australia’s prosecutions, Poland’s policy reversal, and Germany’s pending legislation, we explore how telehealth became both a lifeline for patients and a liability for policymakers, and what comes next for the industry built around it.

In the coming days we’ll be diving into the potential impact of a similar change in Germany. You can read Part 1 here.




Earlier this week, Germany published a draft bill that would significantly clamp down on the booming medical cannabis telemedicine industry.

This came hot on the heels of similar action in Australia, another market which has seen exponential growth thanks to the ease of access offered by these relatively new platforms.

While Germany’s draft bill, which would require new patients to have an in-person consultation and ban prescriptions being sent directly to patients’ homes, is still a way off being put into law, it has already sparked outrage from many industry voices.

Its potential impact remains difficult to gauge, but a useful case study, one many German cannabis business owners are now looking to for insight, is the Polish market.

Some see Poland’s telemedicine crackdown as a cautionary tale, others see its subsequent rebound as a beacon of hope. Regardless, it now appears to be the new reality for developing medical cannabis markets.

Poland’s crackdown


In August 2024, the Polish Ministry of Health announced proposals for a major restriction of its online medical cannabis prescription framework, with some significant parallels to Germany’s recent draft amendment.

When this was implemented in early November 2024, ‘e-visits’ or online consultations were restricted.

Effectively, this meant that private doctors from specialised cannabis clinics could only issue an ‘e-prescription’ (there are no physical prescriptions for medical cannabis) after conducting an in-person examination of the patient.

Although primary care physicians (POZs), Poland’s general practitioners, are still able to issue prescriptions via online consultations, only a handful do so in practice due to ongoing caution and a lack of education around cannabis.

Unlike in Germany, this legislation was initially drafted to combat the severe uptick in Fentanyl, oxycodone, morphine prescriptions. However, following a consultation with the medical community, who noted the similarly rapid rise of medical cannabis prescriptions, it was later included in this list.

Mikołaj Rusin, a specialist in the Polish medical cannabis market, told Business of Cannabis: “You have to understand that in Poland, we’ve had a lot of issues with prescriptions, not just with cannabis. So, in the middle of 2024, there was a big controversy around fentanyl and other opioids, which were being prescribed through telemedicine. That was really the core of the problem.

“No, at first it only covered hard drugs like fentanyl and other opioids. Medical cannabis wasn’t included. But then the medical chamber raised a crucial point: they said that when we legalised medical cannabis and allowed it to be prescribed via e-prescriptions, it felt—at least to doctors—like we were legalising recreational cannabis.”



Its impact by the numbers


According to the latest official data from the e-Health Centre, Poland’s official registry, collated by Hemp & Health, Poland’s medical cannabis prescription numbers peaked in October 2024, just a month before the rules change was implemented.

At the time, Business of Cannabis reported that news of the upcoming change had driven a last-minute scramble.

“In mid-2024, the market was exploding—around 75,000 patients a month. Companies were excited. They thought Poland was a great business opportunity and started registering more strains,” Rusin explained.

“But after the 7th of November, when e-prescriptions were banned, everything changed. Patients rushed to stock up, some were prescribed 100 to 120 grams in one visit.”

Data from PEX in October showed patients purchased a record 90,388 packages of cannabis-based products from pharmacies a 15% month-on-month increase, with total expenditures reaching PLN 42.67 million, nearly PLN 5.7 million more than in all of 2022.

Pharmacists reported a surge in sales ahead of the November rule changes. “Patients bought everything they could. They didn’t care about prices or manufacturers,” one told the organisation.

chart visualization


However, as Rusin predicted, this exacerbated the incoming crash. After online prescriptions were restricted, the final months of 2024 saw prescription numbers drop by over 54% by the end of the year.

Following stagnation at the start of 2025, the market began to return to some meaningful growth in March, increasing by around 23% in February, according to data published in Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

While data suggests this growth was part of a broader seasonal trend, with prescriptions for other controlled substances (fentanyl, opioids) mirroring the growth in cannabis, the rebound has caught the eye of many German market hawks.

Rusin continued: “It was a dramatic fall. Things improved slightly in March when a few quality clinics opened, but I estimate around 20% of patients turned to the black market and haven’t returned.

“The rest have stayed, but their purchasing patterns have changed. They’re buying less often, partly because the cost has risen.

“Before, a telemedicine visit cost around 100 złoty—about €25. Now, an in-person visit is closer to 200 złoty (€50). Add in the product and prescription fees, and the total cost is well over €150. That’s a big barrier.

“A few clinics now offer multiple prescriptions per visit to make things easier, but most only issue one. If you’re a regular consumer, that means coming back frequently, which adds cost and hassle.”

Real world impact


Although the market appears to be recovering, Rusin points out that it remains well below the runaway growth seen throughout 2024.

Before the change in legislation, officials had granted permission to import 20 tonnes into Poland, a figure many saw as an unrealistic sales target, according to Rusin.

“At this point, selling 10 tonnes would already be considered a major success.”

For business owners in the throes of a market boom, this, of course, will come as disappointing news. But zooming out, and considering the long-term impact of this restriction, will this benefit patients and the wider market?

“It depends,” Rusin said, adding: “On one hand, yes, it was a necessary change. We had unprofessional clinics operating, and in one case, a doctor was writing up to 500 prescriptions a day. That’s insane. Pharmacies didn’t want to work with those kinds of clinics or doctors.

“Now, the clinics are much more professional. They hire proper doctors, take care with documentation, it’s all on a much higher level. That’s a big positive.

“But from the patient’s side, it’s a real problem. In smaller cities, those with 50,000 to 100,000 residents, there often aren’t any local clinics. Patients have to travel to major cities like Warsaw or Poznań. That costs time and money, especially when the price of care has already gone up.

“From a business standpoint, it’s also harder. Pharmacies are cautious, they don’t know if the rules will change again, so they’re reluctant to commit. Right now, the medical cannabis market in Poland only really works in cities with more than 100,000 people.

“Two years ago, this market started getting a lot of hype. But the introduction of regulations around e-visits cooled things down for some. In my view, as an industry, we can actually take something positive from this. I can already see how the business has become more professional over the past six months, those who stayed are more committed, and in the long run, that should bring good results for all of us,” he concluded.

The post The Polish Pivot: What Happens When Telehealth Meets Regulation appeared first on Business of Cannabis.

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