The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, appealed to the legislative body on Wednesday, encouraging the legalization of medicinal marijuana. He stated that this move could alleviate the distress experienced by individuals in the country undergoing the “trauma of war.”
Zelensky’s statements were made during a speech to the Ukrainian parliament.
“It is high time we legitimize therapeutic cannabis products for all those who require them, alongside thorough scientific exploration and Ukrainian-controlled manufacturing,” Zelensky stated, as reported by UPI.
“All the successful global practices, all the most efficient strategies, all the solutions, however challenging or unconventional they may seem, need to be implemented in Ukraine. This is so our countrymen, every single citizen, doesn’t have to withstand the agony, tension, and war trauma,” he further elaborated, according to the media outlet.
Last year, Russia launched an invasion and subsequently seized parts of Ukraine, signaling a violent and costly intensification of the conflict between the two nations. In April, Reuters, referencing a set of allegedly leaked U.S. intelligence documents online, estimated that “around 354,000 Russian and Ukrainian military personnel have been wounded or killed in the Ukraine war.”
As UPI highlighted, “Zelensky’s endorsement for the legalization of medicinal marijuana has been consistent, as shown in 2019, during his presidential race, when he stated that it would be ‘normal’ for people to use cannabis ‘tinctures.'”
The President’s words on Wednesday also resonate with what his cabinet has recently stated.
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Health Minister, Viktor Liashko, mentioned in a Facebook post that the government had introduced a bill to legalize the treatment using medicinal cannabis. In the post, Liashko mentioned the ongoing battle with Russia as a justification for making the treatment accessible.
“We are aware of the adverse effects of the war on mental health,” Liashko wrote on Facebook. “We recognize the number of individuals who will need medical care in their last moments.”
“Cannabis medications are not ‘rivals’ to pharmaceutical drugs, and the procedures to control their distribution are completely separate. Medical cannabis includes cannabidiol, which doesn’t have a significant psychoactive effect, hence it’s not suitable for recreational usage,” Liashko continued. “At the same time, we were prepared by the legislator to start a new phase of production of cannabis-based medications in Ukraine: from development to full-scale production.”
During the first month of Russia’s invasion last year, several U.S. cannabis firms took the initiative to offer financial assistance to Ukraine.
MediThrive CEO, Misha Breyburg, donated a part of the revenue from cannabis sales to a charity assisting Ukrainians. Breyburg also had the MediThrive dispensary in San Francisco’s Mission District adorned in the blue and yellow hues of the Ukrainian flag.
“The Russian aggression on Ukraine is very personal to the founders of MediThrive. CEO Misha Breyburg and his team are Ukrainian Jewish refugees who migrated from Odessa, Ukraine to the United States as children in the 1970s,” the firm stated at that time. “MediThrive believes in the universal right to medication and quality healthcare. The ‘Medi’ in our name signifies our origins as a medical cannabis dispensary serving the needs of cancer and AIDS patients. In the 1990s, we began serving patients under the United State’s Compassionate Care Act. We hold the title of being the oldest cannabis dispensary and delivery service in San Francisco. Today, we are more than just a provider of medicinal and recreational cannabis; our roots are deeply embedded in our community.”
