I am a patient: how do I get medicinal cannabis?

Medicinal cannabis is available from Dutch pharmacies if you have an official prescription from a doctor of a medical specialist. If you think your condition qualifies you to try cannabis as a medicine, you can discuss this with your treating physician. Please have a look at this list of conditions for which cannabis is recommended by the Office of Medicinal Cannabis. If your condition is not on the list, a doctor may still prescribe cannabis at his own discretion.

The first time, your doctor may prescribe only a small amount of cannabis, so you can try out and experience the effect of cannabis on your condition. If cannabis does not have the expected effect, do not forget there are currently 4 different varieties of cannabis available. Another variety may work much better for you. Also, you may try to change to another administration form.

Bring your prescription to your pharmacy, as you would do for any other medicine. Pharmacies commonly deliver cannabis in plastic containers of 5 grams. Any pharmacy can order medicinal cannabis directly from the pharmaceutical distributor, . So if your pharmacy does not have the cannabis you need in-store, it can usually be ordered and delivered within 24 hours.

Specialized cannabis pharmacies

If you buy things in bulk, they usually become cheaper. The same is true for medicinal cannabis. There are now a few pharmacies in the Netherlands that do not order cannabis in 5-gram containers, but rather in 250-gram bags. These pharmacies then take care of further handling and packaging into smaller amounts. As a result, the price of medicinal cannabis (per gram) is lower than in other pharmacies. In some cases, it is also possible to have the cannabis sent to you by express mail. You will need to pay extra for this service.

Currently, the following pharmacies provide this service: