Leading opposition party has proposed legislative changes with regards to hemp farming.
SDP Parliamentary Group filed a legislative proposal on Thursday that would allow the farming of medical cannabis in Croatia, regulate cultivation of industrial hemp, and introduce certification process for medical institutions, reports politikaplus.com on February 2, 2017.
SDP is proposing legislative changes which would make it possible to use industrial hemp in its entirety and would authorize pharmaceutical companies, such as the Institute of Immunology, to cultivate medical cannabis.
“The legal cultivation of medical cannabis would encourage economic growth, and the protocol would be the same as for the cultivation of opium poppies in the production of morphine”, said MP Siniša Varga, former Health Minister, after the party officially submitted the proposal of legislative changes.
Varga said that the changes would promote economic development of the country and facilitate control over new synthetic drugs.
If the proposal is adopted, Croatian farmers who produce cannabis would have an equal rights to produce and market cannabis like those enjoyed by producers in other member states of the European Union. They could cultivate varieties that are acceptable for production because of their THC content, which must not exceed 0.2 percent, and are included in a common list of allowed varieties of the European Union.
Currently, due to the existing law on combating drug abuse, the use of industrial hemp in Croatia is limited to seeds, while rest of the plant must be thrown away.
The amendments to the law would also allow for regulation of conditions which must be fulfilled for the cultivation of plants from which drugs may be obtained, as well as the conditions for the production, possession and trafficking of drugs and substances that can be used to manufacture drugs.
SDP also introduced a proposal to adopt the law on quality and logistics in health care, which would replace the current law and facilitate the introduction of certification for healthcare institutions, commercial companies and private practitioners.
“Agency for Quality and Logistics in Health Care would have greater administrative powers in several areas: management of health infrastructure and human resources in the health sector, the implementation of a unified public procurement process for medical institutions, and the establishment of a comprehensive system of eHealth and telemedicine”, said Varga.
