The Netherlands: Patients receive cannabis from pharmacies

From the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine
August 31, 2003 report

Dutch patients with a doctor’s prescription will be able to obtain
cannabis from chemists starting from 1 September. Pharmacies will offer two sorts of cannabis, with the cheapest batch priced at 40 EUR per five grams, and the other variant 50-55 EUR per five grams. But the pharmacy association KNMP said patients will have to pay for their cannabis themselves because the drug is not yet included in the ziekenfonds health insurance scheme as a claimable reimbursement.

The chemist-supplied cannabis is more expensive than the cannabis sold in coffee shops, where users can buy a gram for prices ranging between 5 and 6 EUR. Two Dutch cultivators, The Stichting Institute of Medical Marijuana and the firm Bedrocan are supplying pharmacists with the cannabis, making them the first legal suppliers of the drug in Europe. The Office for Medicinal Cannabis of the Health Ministry inspects the cannabis for quality control and organises its distribution.

Cannabis had been inoffically available in pharmacies for several
years provided by the Dutch firm Maripharm. On 17 March 2003 a change of the narcotic law took effect that paved the way for a legal supply.

More in the presentation of Willem Scholten of the Office of Medicinal Cannabis at the IACM 2nd Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine: www.Cologne2003.org