Luxembourg plans €3m worth of medical cannabis following shortage

Luxembourg plans to buy around 30kg of medicinal cannabis amounting to €3 million this year, health minister Paulette Lenert said on Tuesday, after high demand last year left the country facing a shortage of the drug.

Cannabis was made legal for medicinal purposes in Luxembourg in 2018 for some patients such as those suffering from cancer or multiple sclerosis, but remains illegal for recreational use.

The country plans to order up to €3 million of the drug this year, higher than the €800,000 budgeted for 2021, Lenert said in response to a parliamentary question. She has asked the finance ministry to increase the allowance, she wrote.

Around 28.5kg of cannabis with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels of 18%, and 2.25kg with 10% THC, have been ordered, Lenert said. THC is the main psychoactive chemical.

Of the 30kg, 28.5kg has a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) level of 18% and 2.25kg has a THC level of 10%, Lenert said. THC is the main psychoactive chemical

Earlier this year, Luxembourg was facing a shortage of medical cannabis as demand unexpectedly outstripped supply in 2020 and authorities had to find new suppliers.

They have now found a new supplier, which sources its produce from Portugal and Canada, Lenert wrote. The supplier, Tilray Deutschland, currently supplies produce to Germany, Portugal, Poland, Ireland and Israel. Medicinal cannabis can only be found at hospital pharmacies in Luxembourg.

Doctors prescribed 140kg of cannabis for medicinal use in 2020 – almost three times more than in 2019, the health ministry said in June.

The amounts that countries can import are controlled by the International Narcotics Control Board, a UN-affiliated body.