A soldier from Ukraine’s 117th Territorial Defense Brigade, Sumy region, Ukraine, August 23, 2024. ADRIEN VAUTIER/LE PICTORIUM FOR LE MONDE
The news went unnoticed, as all eyes were focused on the Ukrainian troops’ offensive in the Kursk region of Russia. However, on August 16, a medical and social revolution was kicked off in Ukraine, with the legalization of medical cannabis. In June, Volodymyr Zelensky had publicly supported the bill, which was adopted by Parliament eight months earlier, in December 2023.
The law authorizes the cultivation of hemp for medical, industrial and scientific purposes “to create conditions for expanding patients’ access to the necessary treatment of oncological diseases and post-traumatic stress disorders [PTSD].” According to the health ministry, around six million Ukrainians could benefit from medical cannabis – three times more than the two million potential patients that had been estimated before the Russian invasion began, in February 2022. This increase would be almost entirely due to the surge in the number of PTSD cases since the start of Russia’s large-scale offensive.
Only those with a medical prescription will be able to purchase cannabis legally, the sale and distribution of which will be strictly controlled by the government. “The doctor will issue this prescription to the patient according to their condition, as is currently the case with morphine,” explained lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak. The sale of cannabis for recreational purposes remains prohibited, however.
While no national statistics on the subject are available, PTSD could eventually affect 30-50% of Ukrainians, depending on estimates. Over the past two years, Ukraine’s healthcare system has already recorded a significant increase in the number of patients diagnosed with PTSD: They were more numerous in the first two months of 2024 (3,292) than over the whole of 2021 (3,167).
Yet for soldiers and civilians suffering from PTSD, getting access to therapeutic cannabis looks set to be a long and difficult process. Currently, post-traumatic stress disorder has not been included on the official list of illnesses for which it can be used. “This is still the subject of huge debates within the health ministry,” explained Hanna Hlushchenko, the founder of the Ukrainian Cannabis Consulting Group. “They are the ones who decide which illnesses can be included on the list, and they are very skeptical about the effectiveness of therapeutic cannabis in treating PTSD victims, as they feel that the scientific data are not convincing enough,” she said.
At the moment, only patients suffering from cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, epilepsy or chronic pain caused by certain pathologies will have access to medical cannabis. However, the law does mention the possibility of prescribing it in “other cases” than those on the list. This subtle legislative point should enable those suffering from PTSD to access the treatment after all, provided they apply for it at one of the 600 or so medical institutions across the country. After examining their file, a local medical adviser would give – or withhold – their approval. “It’s not ideal, but the ministry’s position is to say: ‘Let’s start this way, and if doctors push to extend the list, we’ll do it.'”
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