Milan Krek from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) said doctors expect a legal basis which would regulate treatment with medical cannabis to be put forward. Doctors are of the opinion that the cost of such a treatment should be covered by the health insurance companies, and that enough medical cannabis, for all the patients who would need such treatment, should be obtained.

A Medical Chamber task force has already inquired with other medical departments, colleagues and experts in the field about the effects and side effects of using cannabis for health treatment. Krek added that cannabis has great therapeutic potential, but that we are still at the very beginning of discovering that potential.

Cannabis is not a miracle cure
Medical cannabis is already used across the world for treating different kinds of illnesses, but generally in combination with other medicine. Krek warns against the belief that cannabis can cure everything. Because of such promises patients tend to abandon official treatment. Some patients have even died, although they would have survived if they continued with their official treatment.

Cannabis used for medical purposes is monitored and standardized, with a known content of various substances and an appropriately defined therapeutic dose, which cannot be found in resin and other home-made products from cannabis that can also be purchased on the black market. Doctor Danica Rotar Pavlič stresses that we can witness uncritical consumption of cannabis, either in the form of resin or oil, which is totally inappropriate. She adds that the wrong use of cannabis can lead to the deterioration of a patient’s condition.

An online survey that included 642 doctors showed 64 percent of the doctors support the introduction of medical cannabis for patient treatment. At the same time the majority of doctors also said it was not very familiar with its effects. Around 95 percent acknowledged that additional education was needed in this field. The first training for doctors in this field will be held in November. The first part will cover the general use of medical cannabis, while the second part of the training will be dedicated to palliative treatment.

G. K.; translated by K. J.,