Filenews 9 November 2021
The cannabis market is increasingly available, making it even more easily accessible to the public and especially to young people, according to the latest European Drugs Report.
This was mentioned on Monday in the workshop jointly organized by the Cyprus Police – Anti-Narcotics Service and the Cyprus Addictions Authority, the focus of which was on the latest developments in the issue of cannabis, as it is still the most widespread substance of use both in Cyprus and internationally.
According to the Chief of Police, Stelios Papatheodorou, whose greeting was addressed during the meeting by the Deputy Chief of Police, Christos Mavris, "among the adverse effects and intense changes brought by the pandemic was the reclassification in the use and disposal of illegal substances.
As he said, "drug trafficking has proved resilient, dynamic and flexible, with the result that we are now faced with new challenges that focus on the use of new mechanisms, mainly electronic means, to promote illegal substances".
He expressed his concern, since as he noted "according to the latest European Report on Drugs, the cannabis market is increasingly available, making it even more easily accessible to the public and especially to young people".
The President of the Cyprus Addictions Authority, Dr. Christos Minas, in his address, mentioned that cannabis remains the most widely used substance internationally and is of great concern to those who formulate a policy to deal with addictions, professionals in the field, but also the general public.
As he explained, "in recent years there has been a shift in the management of the issue of cannabis internationally, with some countries having legalized its medical use, some having legalized its use for recreational purposes and others having decriminalized cannabis use in general."
He also said that one of the objectives of the workshop was to clarify the conflicting definitions of decriminalization / legalization / decriminalization, in the context of discussions on the policy related to illegal substances.
He also stressed that "the authority's goal and role, through the implementation of the National Strategy for Dealing with Addictions 2021-2028, is to promote measures and policies, including cannabis, based on scientific evidence and not on moralistic, consolidated, political and economic approaches".
In his address, the Deputy Director of Nursing Services of the Ministry of Health, Evagoras Tampouris, who spoke on behalf of the Minister of Health, Michalis Hadjipantelas, stated that the changes in social perceptions, attitudes and trends regarding cannabis in recent years, have given impetus to its legal use and to several specialized applications, including medicine.
He explained that at a global level, the pharmaceutical cannabis industry is a rapidly evolving and developing field, aiming at the safe production of good quality medicinal cannabis products, with high standards for use by patients, for whom it is deemed necessary by attending physicians.
"Cyprus," he added, "due to the weather conditions that favour the cultivation of good quality plants at a lower cost and the tax regime favourable to companies, is an ideal destination for medicinal cannabis producers to make investments. That is why the Republic of Cyprus proceeded with the legislative regulation for its local licensing and production".
In addition, Mr. Tabouris said that "with the completion of the legislative process, the state will proceed to the implementation of the procedures for the effective implementation of the regulations, so that at the end of the day, patients will have safe access to quality medicinal cannabis, where necessary".
Moreover, the main speaker of the workshop was the legal analyst at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Brendan Hughes, who referred to the confusion between prohibition and regulation.
During the workshop, Ioanna Yiasemi, on behalf of the Monitoring Department of AAEK, who presented the situation of cannabis use in Cyprus, as well as Ioannis Kkolos, Pharmacist of pharmaceutical services, also spoke, who referred to the latest developments on medicinal cannabis.
The Senior Lawyer of the Republic, Theano Mavromoustaki, spoke about the legal status of cannabis in Cyprus.
