[Cannabis for medical purposes-the law of March 2017 and its history].

Since March 2017, the law amending narcotic and other regulations has expanded the options for prescribing cannabis-derived medicines by doctors. Under certain conditions, patients can be treated with cannabis-derived medicines at the expense of the statutory health insurance. With a prescription, cannabis-derived medicines may be available that are not approved as a finished medicinal product. The reasons for this lie in particular in court decisions from the years 2005 and 2016.The decisive legal regulation increases the responsibility of doctors and pharmacists in supplying their patients with cannabis-derived medicines. A five-year monitoring survey is being conducted by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) to evaluate the effects on patient care. In order to ensure the supply of cannabis-derived medicines in the future, the cultivation of cannabis in Germany is planned under the conditions of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs under the control of a cannabis agency.