Ukraine Eyes Legalizing Medical Marijuana To Ease the Stress of Nonstop War – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

BRUSSELS — With Russia intensifying its efforts to cripple Ukraine’s grain industry, Kyiv may soon be able to lean on another crop in its stead: cannabis. Medical cannabis can ease the psychological trauma of war suffered by more than half of the population, lawmakers there contend. 

Long-awaited legislation that would legalize medical cannabis passed a first reading in Ukraine’s parliament, known as the Verkhovna Rada, on July 13. To become law, it must pass a second reading, expected in the fall. The Russian invasion has hastened efforts to legalize the drug, cannabis advocates say.

The war is increasing demand for medical cannabis, the co-founder of Ukraine-based drug policy reform advocacy group Cannabis Freedom March, Taras Ratushnyi, tells the Sun. It has increased the number of patients in need of the drug, he adds, as thousands are now wounded and traumatized.

Before the war, Mr. Ratushnyi says, everyone had a relative or acquaintance who needed medical cannabis. “With the full-scale invasion, the pain has become much closer, as it now affects everyone who is simply in Ukraine and is a potential target for an attack on a daily basis,” he says. Mr. Ratushnyi is currently serving in the Ukrainian army.

More than 90 percent of the population has reported at least one symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder since the war started, the Ukrainian healthcare ministry reports. The report adds that 57 percent of Ukrainians are at risk of developing…