Frankfurt offers medical staff courses on the use and prescription of medical cannabis

Officials around Germany want to expand the use of medical cannabis and make sure that it reaches those who really need it

The Health Department and the Drugs Department of the City of Frankfurt am Main are reaching out to doctors and pharmacists from Frankfurt and the surrounding area with two online training courses on cannabis in medicine in February and March.

Renowned experts such as the Tourette expert Prof. Kirsten Müller-Vahl from Hanover or Prof. Jens Reimer, head of the Center for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research at the University of Hamburg will present current developments in the use of medical cannabis, talk about indications, drug selection and the dosage prescription processes that are meant to make access to medical cannabis easier for those who need it.

Branching out and helping out

The training courses are part of the nationwide pilot project on medical cannabis, with which the health department and the drug department want to identify supply problems in Frankfurt and improve the situation of the seriously ill. Since 2017, patients with serious illnesses have been able to prescribe cannabis drugs on prescription, but in practice, access is often still difficult.

“In surveys, doctors in Frankfurt, but also pharmacists, complained about the lack of opportunities for further training and networking,” says health director Stefan Majer. "With the two video conferences, we want to make up for this deficit and support the establishment of a network in Frankfurt." Even and especially during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this important topic and the needs of chronically ill people should not be pushed into the background.

The two three-and-a-half-hour events on February 24 and March 17, therefore, leave enough time for discussions and exchanges between all those involved, announced Regina Ernst, head of the drug department. She hopes to initiate a “lasting discourse”, “that colleagues in Frankfurt can exchange and reassure each other over a short distance” and that the way can be paved “so that in the future more affected people will have the option of treatment with medical cannabis if this is the best choice for them ”.