The right to health is a fundamental human right. The fact that the State criminalizes sick people for using substances that improve their health is an attack against public health. To this day, no minimally informed scientific establishment would dare to deny the therapeutic benefits of the cannabis plant, and those who do, either have economic benefits to get from this position or are, purely and simply, possessors of a lack of knowledge that borders on the immoral.
From the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM) Work is underway to publicize this movement that revolves around the Declaration of Human Rights for Cannabis Patients. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, every individual “has the right to life, liberty and security of his person” (Article 3) and “has the right to an adequate standard of living to ensure him, as well as to their family, health and well-being, especially food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services ”(article 25, paragraph 1).
Considering that this declaration applies to all people and all peoples, many doctors are prohibited by law from treating their patients with cannabis-derived medicines, and many people do not have access to cannabis-derived medicines, declare that:
- All doctors have the right to treat their patients with cannabis derivatives.
- All patients have the right to access cannabis derivatives as a treatment supervised by a doctor, regardless of their social status, standard of living or economic environment.
If the cannabis-based drugs currently on the market had a wide range of indications, the use of these drugs could be justified to the detriment of cannabis in its plant form. But the truth is that this is not the case. And this is not the case, not because these indications are not scientifically proven for cannabis, but because, for a drug to obtain authorization to be used for indications other than the first one for which it was marketed, it must present a sufficient number well-designed scientific studies and reproducible results when using that particular drug.
Sativex, which is what the cannabinoid spray is called whose only formal indication is spasticity and ataxia resistant to other treatments in multiple sclerosis, will take many, but many years, to obtain the necessary authorizations from the authorities competent to be used in the rest of the medical indications in which cannabinoids have been shown to work. The next indication on the horizon is cancer pain.
But what about the dozens of other prompts? Antiemetic, appetite stimulant, analgesic in non-cancer pain, adjuvant in cancer treatments, glaucoma … Patients cannot wait so many years. That is why it is necessary for the scientific community with experience in the use of cannabinoids to stand up in unison to demand the recognition of the right of sick people to use the safest drug (from the English drug, “medicine”) that humanity has ever known. our days.
Global campaign: “Cannabis for medicinal use is a human right”
An international consortium of medical cannabis organizations is demanding that human beings, regardless of the country where they reside, their political views or their level of training, be able to use cannabis for medicinal purposes. In a joint declaration, the organizations of Europe and North America refer to the third article of the Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948. The declaration is the beginning of a worldwide campaign on the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes .
The statement is posted in six languages on a website (www.ourimpact.org) and states: “All physicians have the right to treat their patients with cannabinoids and cannabis derivatives in accordance with good medical practice” and “all patients have the right to access cannabis and cannabinoids as a treatment supervised by a doctor, regardless of their social status, standard of living and economic environment.
“The statement is based on incontestable scientific evidence. There needs to be strong opposition against preconceptions and misrepresentations from legislators, other political actors and ‘specialists’ with limited medical knowledge on this issue, ”says Franjo Grotenhermen, Executive Director of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (Germany) .
The purpose of the declaration is to generate global support and enable organizations around the world to take a stronger stand. “The joint statement and website form the core of a global human rights movement for therapeutic use of cannabis,” says Al Byrne of Patients Out of Time (USA). The statement is the result of the work of experienced specialists from various countries, who are working to challenge the anti-cannabis movements. Cannabis has an established medical use throughout world history and, together with the recent discovery of the role of the endogenous cannabinoid system in the human body, it should be available to all citizens of any country. The creators of the declaration designed it to give courage and allow both organizations and individuals to join them in signing the document to support the common goal of creating a global campaign to end the unjust prohibition of medical cannabis.
Many scientists, doctors and other specialists in the field have already offered their support by signing the document. The initial signers of the declaration are listed below. Join us in demanding an end to the prohibition of medical cannabis and the inclusion of medical cannabis in the national pharmacopoeia of each and every country on the planet:
- American Cannabis Nurses Association (ACNA), United States.
- Americans for Safe Access (ASA), United States.
- Working Group on Cannabis as Medicine (ACM), Alemania.
- Association for Therapeutic Cannabis (ACT), Italy.
- International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM).
- Norwegian Association for Cannabinoid Medicine (NFCM), Norway.
- Patients Out of Time (POT), United States.
- Swiss working group for cannabinoids in medicine (SACM), Suiza.
- Cannabis Medicine Self-Help Network (SCM), Germany.
- Society of Cannabis Clinicians (SCC), United States.
- Francophone Union for Cannabinoids in Medicine (UFCM), Francia y Luxemburgo.
Contacts (edit)
Al Byrne, Patients Out of Time, United States: albyrne@hug-hes.net
Dr. Franjo Grotenhermen, International Association for Canna-binoid Medicines, Alemania: info@cannabis-med.org, Medical Cannabis Declaration e.V., Am Mildenweg 6, 59602 Ruethen, Germany
This declaration is, in short, a joint effort worldwide so that patients who can benefit from the use of the cannabis plant can do so without fear of suffering legal reprisals, at the same time that it enables us doctors to comply with one. of the principles of the Hippocratic oath, the one that says: “I will establish the regime of the sick in the way that is most beneficial to them according to my faculties and to my understanding, avoiding all evil and all injustice.”
Please serve this global statement to address the current injustice towards patients using medical cannabis.
Finally, we leave you with a short video of a documentary on Medicinal Marijuana that has been funded by crowdfunding. The documentary shows us the story of Cristina, a law professor whose life changes when she is diagnosed with a tumor. This mother of high social class will experience a transformation in her way of being when she suffers the consequences of the disease. Far from falling into victimhood, we are shown that part of the patient so often unknown: the struggle to improve their living conditions with Marijuana.
