{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-572d6a42.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-f4d0de30.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Czechs can\u0026#39;t access medical marijuana half year after legalisation' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c58fd8eafeecae1711f6' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c58fd8eafeecae1711f6' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nCzechs can\u0026#39;t access medical marijuana half year after legalisation\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eJust three years ago, the only thing that Zdenek Majzlik knew about cannabis was that it's good stuff for making rope. Today, the 67-year-old retired nuclear power plant employee is an experienced grower who cultivates pot for his...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eJust three years ago, the only thing that Zdenek Majzlik knew about cannabis was that it's good stuff for making rope. \u003cbr/\u003eToday, the 67-year-old retired nuclear power plant employee is an experienced grower who cultivates pot for his multiple sclerosis-stricken daughter. \u003cbr/\u003e\"Cannabis has saved my life. Not that the life would be worth much, but I can say that my current life with cannabis is more valuable than without it,\" the 46 year old Martina Kafkova said.\u003cbr/\u003eKafkova was teaching guitar at a school for disabled children when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 19 years ago. \u003cbr/\u003eShe has been fully dependent on her parents since her marriage fell apart three years ago.\u003cbr/\u003eConfined to a wheelchair, Kafkova needs five joints a day to get relief from severe stiffness, painful spasms and breathing troubles because other available medicine is not effective enough. \u003cbr/\u003eMajzlik faces a thorny dilemma: The Czech Republic legalised medical marijuana use this year, but maintained strict restrictions on growing, selling and importing it. \u003cbr/\u003eFor Majzlik, the solution is breaking the law to grow pot for his daughter. \u003cbr/\u003e\"She's my child and it is my duty to take care of her,\" Majzlik said in front of a cannabis plant in his garden.\u003cbr/\u003e\"I do have a problem with this because I am breaking the law. But my biggest problem is that the lawmakers don't understand that people may end up in such situations and that with their laws they force the people to break those laws,\" he added.\u003cbr/\u003eMedical marijuana is legal in a number of European countries, Israel and 20 US states as well the District of Columbia. \u003cbr/\u003eAdvocates say it gives patients relief from the debilitating symptoms of illnesses including cancer, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson disease, where more conventional treatment fails. \u003cbr/\u003eThe Czech Republic's parliament legalised medical marijuana this year by an overwhelming majority, with the law becoming effective April 1. \u003cbr/\u003eBut some 20-thousand patients who are estimated to be eligible for cannabis treatment have no chance to access it legally, although so far police have largely turned a blind eye to renegade growers such as Majzlik who technically would face prison. \u003cbr/\u003ePatients and medical experts blame interference by the Health Ministry, which has fiercely opposed legalising medical marijuana. \u003cbr/\u003e\"It's a very strong story of a combination of arrogance and ignorance from the Ministry of Health,\" said Dr. Tomas Zabransky, a UN and EU adviser on drug issues. \u003cbr/\u003e\"They are just trying to block the medical cannabis treatment process in the Czech Republic after they have been unsuccessful on the level of laws.\"\u003cbr/\u003eThe ministry denies deliberately blocking access to medical marijuana, but few question that its policies have raised steep barriers for patients to access pot legally. \u003cbr/\u003eThe Health Ministry and its State Institute for Drug Control, the nation's drug agency, banned health insurance companies from covering the cost of medical marijuana, and set the maximum amount patients are allowed at 30 grams (1.1 ounces) per month, an amount Zabransky says often falls woefully short of providing effective relief. \u003cbr/\u003eThe government also banned treatment for teenagers under 18 and allowed imports of just four types of cannabis that can be obtained only from the Netherlands at a cost of about 10 US dollars per gram, prohibitive for most patients in a nation where the average monthly salary is 1,300 US dollars and the average pension is 500 US dollars.\u003cbr/\u003eThe government said it restricted legal use to these four types from the Dutch marijuana monopoly to ensure quality. \u003cbr/\u003eAnd Health Ministry spokeswoman Dana Salamunova said medical marijuana is not covered by insurance because the \"positive effects of cannabis have not been clearly clinically proven.\" \u003cbr/\u003eSo far, two licenses have been issued allowing import and distribution of marijuana, and Salamunova said the cannabis approved under those licenses may hit pharmacies in December. \u003cbr/\u003eBut the pharmacies won't be able to legally sell the pot until an electronic registry is set up to record prescriptions, sales and patient information, and it's not clear when it will be up and running. \u003cbr/\u003eThe Czech drug agency plans to call a public tender in April for up to 10 licenses to grow an unspecified amount of medical marijuana. \u003cbr/\u003eBut the winning bidders won't be able to start growing until they've been issued licenses, a process that could take months in this bureaucracy-heavy nation. \u003cbr/\u003eCharles University at Hradec Kralove, in the Czech Republic wants to use its research green houses, where they study non-narcotic medical marijuana, as a mass growing operation for medical marijuana.\u003cbr/\u003e\"It is not our plan for it to economically uphold the faculty, that it should be a big business, of course we expect that the production would at least pay for itself or generate a small profit, at least from the start,\" said Alexandr Hrabalek, Dean of pharmacy faculty at the university.\u003cbr/\u003e\"We will see what the demand is and if there is demand for the drug, then we will be able to meet it.\"\u003cbr/\u003eSo far the university hasn't heard whether it will get permission to grow. \u003cbr/\u003eMeanwhile, Marina Kafkova's father spends most of his time bombarding authorities, including health officials and police, to make it easier to access marijuana and to lift the ban on growing it for pain relief.\u003cbr/\u003eTyn Nad Vltavou, Czech Republic - October 10, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e1. Various of multiple sclerosis patient Martina Kafkova smoking marijuana \u003cbr/\u003e2. Kafkova putting ash in ashtray \u003cbr/\u003e3. SOUNDBITE (Czech) Martina Kafkova, multiple sclerosis patient using marijuana for symptomatic relief:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Cannabis has saved my life. Not that the life would be worth much, but I can say that my current life with cannabis is more valuable than without it.\" \u003cbr/\u003e4. Mid of Kafkova's father, Zdenek Majzlik, walking to garden and looking at marijuana plant \u003cbr/\u003e5. Various of marijuana plant\u003cbr/\u003e6. SOUNDBITE (Czech) Zdenek Majzlik, father of multiple sclerosis patient Martina Kafkova:\u003cbr/\u003e\"She's my child so it is my duty to take care of her, it's not like I want to play some sort of hero, a super man. I do have a problem with this because I am breaking the law. But my biggest problem is that the lawmakers don't understand that people may end up in such situations and that with their laws they force the people to break those laws.\"\u003cbr/\u003e7. Focus change of marijuana plant\u003cbr/\u003e8. Various of Majzlik and wife pouring dried marijuana out on floor \u003cbr/\u003ePrague, Czech Republic - October 11, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Tomas Zabransky, Adviser for United Nations and the European Union on drug issues:\u003cbr/\u003e\"It's a very strong story of a combination of arrogance and ignorance from the Ministry of Health. They are just trying to block the medical cannabis treatment process in the Czech Republic after they have been unsuccessful on the level of laws.\"\u003cbr/\u003ePrague, Czech Republic - October 21, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e10. Tilt up of exterior of Ministry of Health building \u003cbr/\u003e11. SOUNDBITE (Czech) Dana Salamunova, Spokesperson for Czech Republic Ministry of Health: \u003cbr/\u003e\"For the symptoms that medical marijuana is considered for (to ease) there are other medications that are partly or fully covered by health insurance and also we have to consider that, clinically, the positive effects of cannabis haven't been fully proven.\"\u003cbr/\u003eHradec Kralove, Czech Republic - October 3, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e12. Wide of greenhouse at university\u003cbr/\u003e13. Close up of marijuana plant in greenhouse \u003cbr/\u003e14. SOUNDBITE (Czech) Alexandr Hrabalek, Dean of Pharmacy Faculty of Charles University at Hradec Kralove:\u003cbr/\u003e\"It is not our plan for it to economically uphold the faculty, that it should be a big business, of course we expect that the production would at least pay for itself or generate a small profit, at least from the start. We will see what the demand is and if there is demand for the drug, then we will be able to meet it.\"\u003cbr/\u003eTyn Nad Vltavou, Czech Republic - October 10, 2013\u003cbr/\u003e15. 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