PRAGUE, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The consumption of medicinal cannabis in the Czech Republic continued to grow in the past years, according to information at a symposium held here Monday.

The symposium was organized by the Drug Policy Department of the Office of the Government in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the State Institute for Drug Control.

By the end of May this year, cannabis was prescribed at least once and issued to 665 patients in the country. The number of registered doctors for cannabis prescription has also multiplied, and almost 100 are currently prescribed for medicinal cannabis.

In 2018, 4,800 grams of medicinal cannabis were issued, almost four times more than in 2017. Since the beginning of this year, 5,347 grams of cannabis have been released for medical use. Nearly 90 percent of the total amount of cannabis is currently being used to treat chronic intractable pain, followed by multiple sclerosis.

Cannabis treatment in the Czech Republic will be largely financed through public health insurance by next year. The Ministry of Health has proposed a 90 percent reimbursement from public health insurance on 30 grams of medical cannabis for one patient one month.

"Increasing the availability of medical cannabis is an important step in public health, but it is really necessary to professionally control the correct prescription and compliance with the rules for the use of cannabis, that is, use of this substance, not to abuse it," said National Drug Policy Coordinator Jarmila Vedralova. Enditem

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