Medical marihuana legal but scarce in Hungary

The Hungarian Medical Cannabis Association (MOKE) plans to start a cannabis program accessible to doctors and workers in the medical field. They plan to organise professional training in the application of medical marihuana for doctors.

According to Szelestei Miklós interviewed by 444; This is necessary because while medical marihuana is currently legal in Hungary, it is practically inaccessible: doctors do not prescribe it, it cannot be bought, and no one is really concerned with this matter.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world leaves Hungary considerably behind: more and more countries start experiments and programs year after year, which intend to introduce medical marihuana into health care thus building a multi-billion dollar market.

This does not necessarily mean that marihuana for recreational purposes would be legalised.

For example, in Germany, health insurance is estimated to have funded 70 million euros worth of medical cannabis-based medication. The market also flourishes in Poland, Cyprus, Malta and North-Macedonia; these countries see the tremendous economic potential of growing marihuana for other European markets as well. In this regard, Hungary is considerably falling behind.

The sudden accessibility of CBD oils further complicates the current situation in Hungary for household consumption since early this year; in February the Hungarian National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (OGYÉI) started to distribute notification numbers for CBD oils which are required for registering and thus these products were put on the shelves of bio shops and pharmacies.