Published: 1 maja 2026
← Back to blogIn Poland, "medical marijuana" functions primarily as a pharmaceutical raw material intended for compounding prescription medicines in pharmacies (rather than as a finished OTC product). The Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction allows non-fibrous cannabis herb and specific forms of processed products (e.g. extracts, tinctures, resin) to serve as a pharmaceutical raw material for compounding – subject to marketing authorization issued by the President of URPL (Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products) for a specified period.
The threshold of THC >5% is of practical importance, as we are referring to material that is actually psychoactive, and its clinical applications most often concern symptoms where the analgesic, relaxing, or antiemetic component characteristic of THC (often accompanied by CBD) is important. At the same time, such a raw material is subject to the strict rules of controlled substances trade – "cannabis herb other than fibrous" appears in the schedules of narcotic drugs.
1) Chronic pain (especially neuropathic) and pain resistant to standard treatment
This is one of the main reasons for prescribing cannabis products in countries where they are available. Scientific evidence is mixed (often: moderate effect, significant response variability, study limitations), but in clinical practice it is sometimes considered as an intermediate option when standard treatments have failed or are poorly tolerated. Clinical reviews and discussions (e.g. BMJ) highlight both the potential benefits in chronic pain and the need for careful patient selection and monitoring of adverse effects.
2) Spasticity (especially in MS) and muscle tension symptoms
This is a classic area where THC (often combined with CBD) is used in symptomatic therapy. NICE guidelines discuss the indications for "cannabis-based medicinal products" in spasticity and the framework for safe prescribing (qualification, recording of effects and side effects).
3) Nausea and vomiting resistant to treatment (including in oncological context)
NICE guidelines also cover the area of nausea and vomiting (including chemotherapy-induced) as a potential use of cannabis-based products – usually as an add-on therapy after standard regimens have failed.
4) Palliative care and symptomatic treatment (sleep, appetite, anxiety/tension)
In practice, some patients report improvement in sleep, appetite, or "calmness" – but this is an area where overinterpretation is easy, as the quality of evidence is uneven and the risk of side effects (sedation, concentration problems, anxiety, psychotic symptoms in predisposed individuals) increases with the THC dose. NICE explicitly recommends discussing benefits and harms, risk of interactions, dependency, and the impact on driving with the patient.
This is not medical advice. Indications, dosage, and route of administration require a physician's decision and monitoring of effects/safety.
In the Polish distribution model, the pharmacy buys the pharmaceutical raw material, and the patient receives compounded medicine prepared (most often: weighing and repacking into pharmacy packaging with appropriate labeling, or preparing another compounded form). In practice, it is emphasized that the pharmacy does not dispense "raw material" as such – it dispenses compounded medicine.
In addition, after the entry of the monograph Ph. Eur. 07/2024:3028 Cannabis flos, the URPL drew attention, among other things, to labeling requirements: the label should indicate whether the raw material is intended for compounding oral or inhalation use (depending on the intended application).