Medical marijuana uses being researched in Russia - chief substance abuse specialist
MOSCOW. Nov 19 (Interfax) - Medical marijuana uses are being researched in Russia, but cannabis will not be legalized unless a variety that does not cause psychosis is found, chief non-staff substance abuse specialist of the Russian Health Ministry Yevgeny Bryun said.
"Medical marijuana uses are being researched, and the search for cannabinoids lacking these side-effects [psychosis] is under way. The research has just begun, we do not know how it may end, so I cannot say that we will be growing cannabis for medical uses," Bryun said at a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday.
'Tobacco smoking rarely leads to psychosis, yet 1-3% of people smoking cannabis develop such disorders, which is a lot; besides, the psychosis is severe, schizophrenic, it is hard to cure and actually leads to disabilities, so legalization is out of the question in this case," he said.