For five years, a law has allowed cannabis to be used as medicine. But it is not that easy to get the drugs prescribed. A case study.
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Catherine Konyen
When Anke K. was suffering severely from the side effects of the “basic therapy” that she had been prescribed for the treatment of her multiple sclerosis – crowned by an anaphylactic shock – she remembered that as a teenager a joint helped her with all kinds of pain. “I tried it and it was wonderful,” says the 56-year-old. Since she discovered cannabis for herself, the pain and spasticity typical of MS are much better tolerable for her, she no longer has relapses and no more new inflammations. “Cannabis is my solution, it just helps me.” The only problem is that Anke K. has to get her medicine illegally on the black market. Of course, when the law on cannabis as a medicine came into force in 2017, she was on the mat with her doctors full of hope. But in vain: There is no evidence from clinical studies, said both her neurologist and her pain doctor.