Cannabis in medicine- specialist and patient organizations must also be active!

Since the amendment of the Narcotics Act in August 2022, all doctors in Switzerland have been able to prescribe cannabis medically - without a special permit from the BAG. That was an important progress for patients! But the reality shows that access to cannber therapy remains difficult and support is difficult to find. Medcan and the Swiss Society for Cannabis in Medicine (SGCM) are some of the few contact points.

Franziska Quadri
March 03, 2025

A significant progress - but many hurdles remain

Many affected people have trouble finding a medical specialist for the prescription. At the same time, health insurance companies do not cover the costs in many cases. If you want to use cannabis in medicine, you are often on your own and have to raise a lot of initiative and financial resources. Specialist and patient organizations in Switzerland are often skeptical about the topic and offer only a few or no information.

Numerous patients benefit

The medical use of cannabis can help people with a wide variety of diagnoses. In our Association Medcan we have members with very different clinical pictures - including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, paraplegia, cancer, strokes, ADHD, epilepsy, depression and many other diseases. Numerous affected people report positive effects, but their specialist or patient organizations take the topic hardly or only in passing.

Even the BAG estimates that well over 100,000 affected people have also illegally treated with cannabis. So that's not a small group.

Specialist and patient organizations must take responsibility

These organizations are there to represent the interests of the patients and their specific diagnoses. You should work for better supply structures and make the needs of those affected visible.

Therefore our call:

If cannabis helps you in the therapy, tell your specialist or patient organization! Request them to pay more attention to the topic. The more patients report, the harder it is to ignore the topic.

Here you will find specialist and patient organizations that could match your diagnosis:

Expert organizations

Patient organizations

Together for better care

A little can only move through continuous exchange and the pressure of those affected. Together we can ensure that cannabis finds its deserved place in medicine and the care for everyone is improved.