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 Dried cannabis flowers and cannabis extracts will be available in
pharmacies on prescription and the public health system will cover
the cost, according to the draft bill that is expected to come into
force from spring 2017.
Other countries that allow cannabis use for medical purposes include
Portugal, Italy and the Czech Republic. Some U.S. states have
decriminalized cannabis completely.
Until now, seriously ill people in Germany with cancer, AIDS,
Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis could only access cannabis
with special approval and had to pay themselves.
"Our aim is that seriously ill people are treated in the best
possible way," Health Minister Hermann Groehe said in a statement.
The government is to set up specially supervised plantations to grow
cannabis and will import what it needs for now.
IBISWorld, a market research firm, projects sales of marijuana for
medical use to increase to $13.4 billion in 2020 from $3.6 billion
in 2015.
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(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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