Cannabis for medical use has been made legal in Luxembourg.

The government unanimously passed the draft law to decriminalise the use of cannabis for patients suffering from diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis or neurodegenerative diseases.

Under the draft law, all general practitioners who have undertaken specific training will be able to prescribe the drug.

This came as a result of an opinion submitted by the Council of State which overturned the initial draft of the text allowing only specialised medical professionals such as oncologists or neurologists.

Luxembourg will use cannabis coming from Canada and will only be available on prescription from a hospital pharmacy. Within the European Union only Austria and Germany have a cannabis agency.

The draft law states the law will be reviewed in two years to look at the number of patients who have benefited from the new measures and to consider whether the list of diseases should be expanded.

During parliamentary discussions a number of MPs suggested additional diseases, including HIV, should be included.

Health minister Lydia Mutsch described the approval of the law as an "important step in the context of our efforts to reduce the pain and suffering of certain patients where standard treatment does not allow it".

Written by Heledd Pritchard for www.luxtimes.lu