Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky is supporting efforts to legalize medical marijuana, with a group of Ukrainian soldiers lobbying parliament to pass a bill to ease the suffering of those wounded in the war with Russia, Spanish news agency EFE reported on Thursday.
The current bill to this effect will be voted on soon, after several failed attempts.
“Unfortunately, as a result of the Russian invasion, some 4 million more people will need medical care based on medical cannabis, the use of which is currently banned in Ukraine, in addition to the 2 million suffering from cancer or other serious illnesses,” warned Inna Ivanenko, executive director of the charity Patients of Ukraine, at a press conference. The same press conference was attended by Ukrainian military personnel, who also explained why medical cannabis should be legalized in Ukraine.
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“It’s absurd that I still don’t have access to medical cannabis, which has no narcotic effects and can help me reduce incapacitating pain,” says Olexandr Iabceanka, a Ukrainian military doctor who is in constant pain after a relatively minor injury suffered a month ago.
“But my pain is nothing compared to those who have had limbs amputated or are suffering serious injuries,” pointed out the Ukrainian military doctor.
In addition to physical pain, legal access to cannabis could also help to better manage post-traumatic stress disorder, a common condition not only among soldiers wounded at the front, but also among those who escape unharmed but are scarred by the horrors of war, as well as the families of soldiers killed or wounded.
“Psychologists, who are supposed to support soldiers suffering from (post-traumatic) stress, are cringing (at the current ban on marijuana). Without alternatives such as medical cannabis, many turn to an easier but more destructive route, alcohol,” warned Igor Kolodilo, a psychologist and soldier in the Ukrainian army.
In a speech to parliament in Kyiv on June 28, Zelensky expressed support for legalizing medical cannabis, including “proper scientific research and supervised production in Ukraine,” adding that it would help Ukrainians treat their “pain, stress, and the trauma of war.”
Some studies have shown that marijuana does not treat PTSD in the long-term and in many cases may make it worse. The drug is known to produce psychosis and schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals, especially for those abusing the drug.
As Remix News has previously reported, there are a number of risks with legalizing marijuana for the general populace, including the rising threat of mental illness and psychotic episodes due to legalization in many states in the United States.
