Marijuana may be legal for medical purposes in Croatia, but the take-up has been weak in Split.
Even though the media would make you believe that the public interest for the introduction of drugs based on marijuana is very strong, experiences of Split pharmacies tell us something else, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on October 21, 2015.
Before they introduce legal medical marijuana on their shelves, the pharmacists want to confirm that the market for such products actually exists, which so far seems to be in question. In several pharmacies in Split which have been visited by reporters from Slobodna Dalmacija, no medical marijuana drugs were found because, according to pharmacists who were there, interest for such drugs still does not exist.
“We have not had a single customer who would show interest in such drugs. We have therefore not submitted the request for accreditation, especially since the Chamber of Pharmacy has still not told us anything about the matter. If in time there is interest, we will make sure that we include products made from marijuana”, pharmacist Suzana Boban from Olujić Pharmacies said.
In Prima Pharma, one of the busiest pharmacies in Split, which is located in the Joker shopping centre, situation is the same. “We have not had any inquiries, nor have we done anything about it ourselves. We will wait and see how things develop”, pharmacist Maja Grgurević said.
It is expected that the Chamber of Pharmacy will send official information which will include a list of suppliers and which forms the medication will take, with instructions regarding dosage and additional regulations. Until such information arrives, pharmacies have no choice but to wait.
And we will also have to wait for a few months to see whether the noise created in connection with the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes will be sufficient advertisement for the new line of drugs for those patients whose diagnoses allow them to use such drugs.
