Cayman Islands Legalizes Cannabis Oil for Medical Purposes

Lawmakers In The Cayman Islands Amended Their Drugs Law To Allow For The Medicinal Use Of Cannabis Oil

Cayman Islands legalizes cannabis oil for medical purposes – Cayman Island Governor Helen Kilpatrick approved a bill , allowing cannabis oil to be imported and sold for medicinal purposes. Lawmakers had unanimously approved the amendment in October during the last session of the Legislative Assembly.

“The use of cannabis extracts and tinctures of cannabis for medical or therapeutic purposes, where prescribed by a medical doctor licensed in accordance with the Health Practice Law as part of a course of treatment for a person under that medical doctor’s care, is lawful,”

The New Law

Cayman pharmacists and doctors will now be able to prescribe cannabis oil for patients, The patients are responsible for locating a source that imports the oil legally . Sourcing the oil is a difficult task, the Cayman Islands currently  has no manufacturers and federal prohibitions on the international transport of cannabis makes importing from the United States difficult.

“But we do not want people to continue to suffer,” Premier Alden McLaughlin, who is also the minister of health, told the Cayman Compass. “We believe we must do what we can.”

Cannabis oil can now be used specifically to treat cancer, epilepsy, pain related to osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as other conditions.

Cayman photographer Dennie Warren Jr. started the Islands medical marijuana legislation after inquiring with the government last year about the therapeutic properties of marijuana. His wife had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and chemotherapy and radiation treatments had proven ineffective.

Dennie Warren Jr. showed the Cayman government studies showing that  tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has proven beneficial for reducing the pain and nausea associated with cancer treatments, while cannabidiol (CBD) has shown to inhibit the progression of cancers located in several areas, including the lung.

“I would like to thank all the members for their support of the bill,” Warren told Cayman Compass. “It is my view that the members of the House do not yet fully comprehend the significance and the importance of today’s decision to move this legislation forward.

“Science, I believe, will one day give cannabis the credit it deserves in a number of areas. It feels good to know that the Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands had the courage to be in the forefront of this very important development.”

 

Smokable cannabis products and cultivating cannabis remain prohibited under the new law.