The patients have achieved that the medical benefits of cannabis are recognized. This is a milestone. Medical professionals must now deal with the issue. Cannabis is a treatment option – like any other medication. This is what those affected demanded and achieved. Unfortunately, nothing has changed in practice. Although there are some new cannabis products and cannabis flowers on the market - including from Swiss producers - the prices are still expensive and medical professionals are not in the know. You can't find a doctor to prescribe it and there is still a lot of ignorance in pharmacies. There is little experience and that is why many experts are skeptical about the topic. That's why training and even more scientific evidence are urgently needed.
Many challenges and high costs
In addition to the difficulties with prescription, cost is also a problem. Cannabis is often only covered by health insurance if you have additional insurance. Many sick people are unable to pay their own medication costs. That's why it's important that health insurance companies and insurance companies also recognize the benefits of cannabis . The Federal Office of Public Health estimates that there are over 100,000 people in Switzerland who are already using it illegally for medicine. Unfortunately, when the narcotics law was changed, no thought was given to how these people could be converted into legal consumption. As long as prices exceed the black market, many will not be able to get a legal prescription for cannabis. For some, the only way to finance their own cultivation is to grow their own crops. At the moment, cannabis is being made into an expensive drug. That must not be. MEDCAN defends itself against two-class medicine.
Reorientation of the Association s
Since its founding, MEDCAN's main demand has been that cannabis become legal for medical use. That has now been achieved. That's why we've reoriented ourselves in the last few weeks. The Association is no longer in the “opposition” but would like to actively contribute to ensuring that the change in the law is implemented sensibly. We are observing abroad that new laws are being passed, but patients are still unable to find legal access. MEDCAN wants to prevent this in Switzerland. That's why we rely on collaboration with medical professionals, professional associations, politics and industry. We pass on our experiences and advocate for the interests of those affected. Our vision is to build a stable organization that advocates for cannabis in medicine in a way that helps patients. We see ourselves as the voice of the over 100,000 people who already use cannabis medicinally.
It takes initiative to prescribe
At the moment, as a patient you still have to put in a lot of effort to get a prescription. At the last online patient meeting, five affected people told their stories. Only one received a prescription for a cannabis extract after initial effort. This is also paid for by the health insurance company. The four other people who wanted to have flowers prescribed to them have not yet been successful and are still waiting. We will continue to report. When you finally have the prescription, many realize that they cannot afford the cannabis medication. This leads to them taking less and also dosing with illegal cannabis. This was not how the change to the Narcotics Act was intended.
Inform yourself
This is currently the only recommendation that MEDCAN can pass on. Find out about the prices and products so that you and your doctor can find the best solution for yourself . The best way to do this at the moment is to exchange ideas with other affected people and share their experiences. For example, at one of our MEDCAN meetings or on our new information exchange platform on Telegram. This makes it possible to collect rapidly changing information and make it available to everyone. Join the group, exchange ideas and help us gather relevant information.
Health insurance companies and insurance companies
Gather information and persuasive arguments to approach your health insurance provider if you have success with cannabis and would like coverage. Those affected can improve their quality of life and deserve financial support. MEDCAN knows how important acceptance by health insurance companies is. This persuasive work is at the top of the Association 's priority list. But it is a Herculean task . It will take a while for the topic of cannabis to find a place in medicine. But we are not idle. There are efforts to build a database and collect scientific evidence. The patients' experiences should be recorded in order to be able to approach the health insurance companies with collected arguments in the future. We are particularly pleased that MEDCAN is able to work on this project. Our experiences will help medical professionals.
Cannabis therapy a blessing for the chronically ill
Nevertheless, it is important to say that cannabis is not a miracle cure. But it is a remedy that has been used for thousands of years. It helps fight the symptoms of many diseases without poisoning the body. It is anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, helps with sleep, supports focus and cheers up the psyche and that's not all. So it's worth trying cannabis as medicine for many ailments. Talk to your doctor about this. As President of MEDCAN, I can only tell you about the promising feedback from our members. Many were able to alleviate their symptoms and positively change their quality of life. That's why the Association so committed to ensuring that cannabis can be used as medicine.
If the topic is important to you, become a member or support us with a donation . Our goal is that everyone can use cannabis as medicine and that the costs are covered by health insurance.
