Croatia’s Groundbreaking Medical Cannabis Laws Make Global Impact

Croatia Makes Medical Marijuana History

The small European country of Croatia is making a huge splash in the world of medical cannabis. So huge, in fact, that the country is quickly surging to the forefront of progressive cannabis laws. And along the way, it’s helping to change the way the world thinks about cannabis.

Back in December 2014 the country formed a committee of doctors and medical experts to study medical cannabis.

The project was called simply The Commission. Its main goal was to determine whether or not the country should legalize medical cannabis.

To reach its decision, The Commission looked at current scientific research and studied cannabis laws in other countries.

After reviewing all this material, The Commission concluded that there was enough positive evidence to officially recommend legalizing medical cannabis.

From there things progressed quickly.

By October 2015 the country passed a new set of laws. It became the first Balkan country to legalize cannabis products for medical uses.

The entire process took less than one full year.

Croatia’s response to current evidence reflects a remarkably positive take on the health potential of cannabis.

The country also stands out for its ability to quickly draft, pass, and enact progressive cannabis laws.

Under the new rules, doctors are allowed to prescribe cannabis teas, ointments, and other extracts to patients with a qualifying health condition.

Photo: Telegraf

But there are still limits to how far the new laws go.

For one, cannabis flowers for smoking or vaporizing are still not allowed. And so far only a handful of health conditions qualify for cannabis treatment.

But probably the biggest challenge the country faced was actually getting medical cannabis.

Since there were no producers in the country itself, Croatia had to look elsewhere for its supply. And this is where things get really interesting.

Earlier this month, Croatia received its first shipment of medical cannabis products from Tilray, a medical cannabis company based in Canada.

Photo: El Confidencial

This was a historic moment for the global medical cannabis scene.

That’s because it was the first time ever that a North American cannabis company legally exported cannabis products that contained both THC and CBD into the European Union.

It also allowed Croatia to begin making medical cannabis available to patients.

Taken together, Croatia’s new medical cannabis laws represent huge steps forward for the world of medicinal cannabis.

By quickly acting on scientific evidence to legalize medical cannabis, and then opening up new channels for legally exporting and importing cannabis products, Croatia has helped legitimize cannabis as a viable product and medicine.