Sweden hasn’t decriminalized recreational cannabis use, and it is still classified as illegal. While Sweden legalized medical marijuana in 2012, it remains extremely inaccessible.
Sweden Jailed Medical Cannabis Consumers
In the past, Sweden has jailed multiple cannabis consumers who have had success managing symptoms of their conditions (illegally) with weed. But hey, at least Sweden isn’t continuing to jail cannabis users for self-medicating with marijuana. For example, in 2008, Sweden imprisoned a woman who was using cannabis to relieve some of the pain caused by multiple sclerosis.
She was jailed for a year, and her condition worsened rapidly. Without cannabis, she went from using crutches to utilizing a wheelchair.
Photo by Ian Deneumostier on Unsplash
Sativex, which is a cannabis-derived medicine is one of the only approved products for the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis. Sativex wasn’t made legal until 2011.
Treatment Stalled For Years Despite the Approval of Medical Cannabis in Sweden in 2012
Although medical marijuana was officially legalized in 2012, it took five years for two patients in need to receive treatment.
One of the two patients was a paraplegic, Andreas Thörn, who tried every pain killer under the sun and was left with no relief for the constant pain he felt.
Photo by Roberto Valdivia on Unsplash
“I’m very sensitive to medication and other [psychoactive] substances. I’ve been high on most of the medication I’ve tried, and that’s never been my goal. I just wanted to get rid of the pain. Should I live the rest of my life with all the side effects I’ve gotten from other opiates?”
Andreas Thörn
In March 2016, Thorn was convicted, fined, and sentenced to probation. He would have served prison time but was deemed unfit to do so. Instead, he was fined 1,700 SEK [€1,220].
Hope Lies in the Future for Medical Marijuana Patients in Sweden
In 2017, the Supreme Court in Sweden ruled that growing medical marijuana in your own home for personal use is a minor drug offense.
Despite the turbulent past of medical marijuana in Sweden, there might be hope for the future.
A 2021 study determined that “there is a widening of the debate on cannabis in the Swedish public sphere, giving more recognition to the potential medical use of cannabis.”