National

Medicinal cannabis dominates today's plenary discussion in Parliament

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6 years ago

January 11, 2018

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The debate around medical cannabis and its discussion in the legislature has been on the agenda and present a little throughout the media this week. The Plenary Meeting is scheduled for today, January 11, at 15 pm and three diplomas on the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes will be discussed by the deputies of the different political parties.

On the table are two Draft Laws and a Draft Resolution:

1. Draft Law no. 726/XIII/3.ª, of Bloco de Esquerda (BE) — Regulates the use of the cannabis plant, substances and preparations for medicinal purposes

2. Draft Law No. 727/XIII/3rd of the Animals and Nature Party (PAN) — For the admissibility of the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes

3. Draft Resolution No. 1221/XIII/3rd of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) — Recommends that the Government analyze the evolution of the health impacts of cannabis use and its proper use for therapeutic purposes and take appropriate measures necessary to prevent the consumption of this psychoactive substance.

What do we know so far?

The Socialist Party (PS) has already expressed itself in favor of legalizing cannabis for medicinal purposes and will give the deputies the freedom to vote. “We will not have our own initiative, but there will be freedom to vote. It seems to me that there will be openness and capacity for us to approve projects in general and then in the specialty phase we can make contributions to their improvement”, said Socialist deputy Maria Antónia Almeida Santos to the newspaper. Public.

For the PAN, Cristina Rodrigues, from the national political commission, told Agência Lusa that it is time for Portugal to follow the “global trend” and the World Health Organization (WHO), which admits the therapeutic advantages of cannabis. In addition to self-cultivation for own consumption, the purpose of the proposals is also to make the substance available in pharmacies, entering the circuit of medicines sold in Portugal, controlled through Infarmed. “Sometimes there can be some prejudice, but scientific studies call this prejudice into question”, said Cristina Rodrigues, who does not anticipate any objection from the medical profession, noting the Open Letter released today in which more than 100 subscribers in the health area, among them, several general practitioners, neurologists, oncologists, psychologists and researchers are calling for the legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

The CDS-PP, for its part, is against the measure, with the deputy and doctor Isabel Galriça Neto making statements that have already outraged many health professionals. “We do not see any social urgency in this decision and there is no evidence of any scientific and clinical value added to the use of cannabis. We have alternatives that don't have cannabis problems, and they do have scientific evidence. We do not understand cultivation without inspection rules and we do not believe that it is a priority”, declared the CDS-PP deputy to the Public.

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) closed in cups until the last day, to end up speaking out against the initiative, announcing that there will be no freedom to vote on its bench.

The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) should be the key to resolving this impasse. “For us, it is essential that there is a separation between therapeutic and recreational use and it is very important to make it clear that the possibility of legislating for the medicinal purpose does not serve to legitimize recreational use,” Communist deputy Carla Cruz told Público. , adding that the party has not yet taken a vote on the bills that are being debated.

MP Paula Santos, from the PCP, told Diário de Notícias, still in March last year, that she “does not have a principled opposition”, considering that “the discussion of the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes is one and for recreational purposes is another”. ”, and the two should not be combined in the same package. At news published by DN, the deputy also added that “if there is scientific evidence that it is an asset in therapeutic use, we do not have a question of principle”. However, the doubt regarding the PCP's voting intention remains, a situation that is repeated in the Ecological Party Os Verdes (PEV) bench, which has not yet publicly assumed its position.

Although it is already known that the Order of Doctors will pronounce in favor, everything is still open and only at the end of the debate will it be known whether Medicinal Cannabis will be approved in general or not.

The Draft Laws and Resolutions that will be debated:

Bill No. 726/XIII (BE)

Regulates the use of the cannabis plant, substances and preparations for medicinal purposes[DOC format][PDF format]

Author: Moses Ferreira (BE), Mariana Mortagua (BE), Jorge Costa (BE), Pedro Filipe Soares (BE), Pedro Soares (BE), Isabel Pires (BE), José Moura Soeiro (BE), Heitor de Sousa (BE), Sandra Cunha (BE), Joao Vasconcelos (BE), Maria Manuel Rola (BE), Jorge Campos (BE), Jorge Falcato Simoes (BE), Carlos Matias (BE), Joana Mortágua (BE), Jose Manuel Pureza (BE), Luis Monteiro (BE), Paulino Ascencao (BE), Catarina Martins (BE)

Draft Law nº 727/XIII (PAN)

For the admissibility of using cannabis for medical purposes
[DOC format] [PDF format]

Author: André Silva (PAN)

Draft Resolution No. 1221/XIII (PCP)

It recommends that the Government analyze the evolution of the health impacts of cannabis use and its appropriate use for therapeutic purposes and take the necessary measures to prevent the consumption of this psychoactive substance.
[DOC format] [PDF format]

Author: Carla Cruz (PCP), Joao Ramos (PCP), Paula Santos (PCP), Paulo Sa (PCP), Joao Oliveira (PCP)
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Featured Image: DR

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[Disclaimer: Please note that this text was originally written in Portuguese and is translated into English and other languages using an automatic translator. Some words may differ from the original and typos or errors may occur in other languages.]

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Medicinal cannabis dominates today's plenary discussion in Parliament

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