Marijuana sales in Italian pharmacies
The first 2,400 jars of marijuana go on sale in Italian pharmacies for potential patients with a medical prescription.
After a year of debate, the first jars of state-produced marijuana, manufactured by a military chemical center under the name FM2, are finally going on sale.
Marijuana can be obtained with a medical prescription for patients with pathologies that involve pain (sclerosis, cancer therapies, anxiety,…) and must be taken through infusions or inhaled with a vaporizer reaching a maximum of 24% of active ingredient.
Until now, several Italian autonomous communities permitted its use, but hospitals and pharmacies faced lengthy paperwork to obtain it, and it came from the Netherlands. While Dutch marijuana sold for 24 euros per gram, that produced in Italy at a military facility in Florence could be sold for 15 euros per gram.
Luca Guizzon, the first pharmacist to sell it, claims that it represents a savings of 30% for his customers. This pharmacist receives about 25 prescriptions per month in a village of 3,000 inhabitants and states that he makes a tea: “You open the jar, place the chopped inflorescences in cold water, bring them to a boil for 20 minutes, and then drink it.”.
It is planned that the Military Pharmaceutical Institute (Florence) will obtain a production every 3 months from several greenhouses to be distributed nationally in order to cover the expected consumption.
Both the Ministry of Health and specialists consider the use of marijuana as a second-line treatment when other substances prove ineffective. According to the Ministry, marijuana can be used as an analgesic for conditions involving spasticity (such as multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injuries), for chronic pain, primarily of neurological origin, to combat nausea caused by chemotherapy or radiotherapy, for treating HIV/AIDS, to stimulate appetite in anorexic patients, and also for glaucoma, as it has a hypotensive effect.
Fountain: The Newspaper