On Tuesday the Parliament adopted a resolution on Cannabis based medicines. Catherine Bearder MEP explains why we need more EU funded research & sufficient availability of safe and properly regulated cannabis based medicines in the EU.

The resolution calls on the European Commission to improve access to medical cannabis in Europe, while at the same time stressing the need for further research and asking national authorities to draw a clear distinction between medical cannabis and other applications of cannabis. MEPs also say that research on medical cannabis has been underfunded and should be properly addressed under the next EU Framework Programme 9.

In addition, equal access to medicinal cannabis should be improved and medical cannabis, where allowed, should be covered by health insurance schemes as is the case for other medicinal products. A comprehensive regulation of medical cannabis would translate in additional resources for public authorities, would limit the black market for medical cannabis consumption, would help control points of sale, would limit the access of this substance to minors and would give a legal and safe access to patients for its medicinal use - with particular precautions for young people and pregnant women.