The role of the anaesthetist in cannabinoid therapy

On Saturday, February, 2 in Athens, in the evocative location of the Niarchos Foundation, the seminar “The role of the anaesthetist in cannabinoid therapy” took place, promoted by the Hellenic Society of Anaesthesiology and the Hellenic Society of Algology, with the support of Enecta, as part of  the project ‘Cannabeta’.

Over 170 anaesthetists and health professionals took part in the workshop, opened by a message of the Greek Health Minister Andrea Xanthsos: “The Ministry, in collaboration with other competent ministries, has adopted all the necessary measures to guarantee all citizens an easy access to the formulations containing cannabis, for those indications for which scientific evidence exists”.

During the speeches it was emphasized how the experience of therapeutic use of cannabis developed along a non-conventional path, in which patients played a very important role.

Gioacchino Calapai, professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Messina, in his analysis of the endocannabinoid system and its active principles, underlined how “the medical history of cannabis is influenced by an extra-scientific view, but, today, a detailed examination of the pharmacological applications, offer new opportunities for its therapeutic use”.

Vittorio Guardamagna, director of the department of  palliative care and pain therapy at the IEO of  Milan, presented the experience of cannabinoid use in oncological patients at the European Institute of Oncology.

Katerina Antoniou, professor of pharmacology and member of the Greek workgroup on medical cannabis, ex-president of the Greek Authority for Medicines (EOF), stated that “the necessary legislation for the access of Greek patients has been achieved”.

The Greek Authority for Medicines individuated the first medical indications for the administration of these formulations:

1 – Prevention and treatment of nausea and/or vomit, due to the administration of chemotherapeutic drugs.

2 – Neuropathic pain, oncological pain.

3 – Spasticity and pain in patients affected by multiple sclerosis.

“Greece will be the main focus of our commitment in the years to come – Jacopo Paolini, CEO of Enecta, states – we will continue to work as a national partner and to support physicians and scientific bodies in the development of the necessary knowledge in favour of the therapeutic use of cannabis. The production of medical cannabis is an opportunity for development for Greece, but from our point of view, not only economically: Enecta will reinvest part of its profits in social projects for the local communities”.