Recreational and medical , a distinction that could put you behind bars or save your life

June last year layed ground for the drafting of the law in parliament seeking to establish the rules and regulations in the use of narcotics in our healthcare system. This move provoked a lot of controversy due to the implications behind using marijuana for medical purposes, a substance that is illegal in the majority of countries. The use of it in the medical sense proposed the possibility of it having inadvertent consequences in the regulation and contol of this drug, perhaps promoting the use of recreational marijuana.

This move undoubtedly raised a couple of eyebrows with claims of Rwanda being the only nation in Africa to do so, but it should be understood that drafting of this law is nothing out of the ordinary. This would be because of the very well known and wide spread use of narcotics in the medical world. Morphin and Opium,both Illegal substances are drugs whose properties are used time and time again to relieve pain , or produce unconsciousness. Drugs such as these have as a result made a substantial contribution to the pharmaceutical industry. Marijuana despite its negative reputation has been proven to have medical properties that are used in the treatment of many diseases and conditions such as cancer or AIDS.

“Marijuana is classified as a psyhoctropic drug and the healthcare system in Rwanda which is under the convention with the International Narcotics control Board in vienna, simply drafted a law in the parliament that would help in the regulation and control in the use of this drug.” Says Alex Ruzindana , Pharmaceutical information PTF Ministry of health. “It has completely nothing to do with the legalisation of marijuana.It is strictly for medicinal and research purposes infact it is not even administered as a herbal drug , but rather its components are used and integrated into other substances making its administration come in other forms.”

The law is in convention with the INCB ,and its infringment will go beyond the realm of the medicine thus leaving the issue to be dealt with by the authorities. Medical Marijuana will only be presrcibed by a specialised physician and its use will be significantly limited .”Other countries across the world have taken a further step by establishing pharmacies who specialise only in the sale of medical marijuana that come in various forms . But we have not implemented that at all, the use of this drug is only exclusive to the prescription given out by the doctor according to the patients needs.” Says Alex

Due to the strictness in the prescription of this medicine , misconceptions when it comes to the consumation of this drug should not arise. Marijuana remains highly illegal outside the medical world and its distribution in iimited dosages will continue to remain exclusive only to that domain.