Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1283588
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 AUGUST 2020 NEWS NICOLE MEILAK NEED pain relief? Pharmacists are unlikely to change your pre- scription for Catafast to Panadol. Yet this is the situation for those prescribed medical cannabis brands in Malta, as a shortage is forcing them to switch to weaker medications. The cannabis advocacy group ReLeaf has highlighted a current shortage in medical cannabis brands Bedrocan and Pedanois, claiming to have received "dis- tress calls" on out-of-stock med- ications. Bedrocan and Pedanios are po- tent brands of medical cannabis, whose THC content – the pri- mary psychoactive element in cannabis which also helps in re- ducing pain – is at 22%. But for neuropathic pain patients, the sole alternative medication avail- able in pharmacies is Bediol, with a THC level of only 6.3%. ReLeaf activist Andrew Bonel- lo told MaltaToday a delay in the renewal of licenses to import medical cannabis was behind the shortage. Once importers get a hold of these licenses, they can resume importing the products, but patients will have to wait three weeks until the licenses are renewed and the products reach our shores. In the meantime, the situation is particularly detrimental for pa- tients who rely on medical can- nabis for chronic pain. Without the options to take Pedanios or Bedrocan, they may either have to resort to black market prod- ucts, which are not as effective, or even use opioids. Medical cannabis is not easy to obtain in Malta: patients require a doctor's prescription, a control card, and direct approval from the Superintendent of Public Health before they can purchase the medicine from pharmacies. Only two pharmaceutical com- panies import Pedanios and Bedrocan. Additionally, medi- cal cannabis is highly expensive: in Dutch pharmacies, medical cannabis retails for €6 a gram; in Malta, it sells for €16 per gram. A prescription of 2 grams a day sets a patient back €960 per month, upwards of €11,000 a year. One fibromyalgia patient pre- scribed medical cannabis reached out to MaltaToday, worried that her current stock of medicine won't be enough for the coming weeks. "At the end of the day this is medication – if I don't take my prescriptions, I'll suffer through migraines that make me go blind," she said. The Medicines Authority will be in talks with ReLeaf and other stakeholders to address the situ- ation. Medical cannabis shortage has left patients in the dark In Dutch pharmacies, medical cannabis retails for €6 a gram; in Malta, it sells for €16 per gram. A prescription of 2 grams a day sets a patient back €960 per month, upwards of €11,000 a year MILAINE BUHAGIAR IT'S a question Paul Borg Bo- naci of Elia Caterers has been answering for quite some time now: how has the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the busi- ness of the big fat Maltese wedding? Gone is the free flow of min- gling and dancing in the epic Maltese wedding of drink and finger food. The restrictions on how many people can ac- tually attend a wedding venue, has affected caterers' human resources in how to make a wedding successful. Spouses are now instructed to host seated weddings – not very Maltese... - to avoid the close-contact style of the re- ception party, and that means changes in safety measures and logistics. "The impact on the 'dream wedding' is that costs are now piling up more due to all the measures that must be put in- to place," Borg Bonaci said. "Weddings are life-chang- ing moments for many cou- ples, not just any other event. COVID-19 is the new norm however, and wedding plan- ning is all the more stressful. But couples shouldn't give up on their magical day." Caterers are themselves af- fected by the reduction in gov- ernment wage subsidies from €800 to €600 a month, reduc- ing their capacity to retain all employees. Wedding planner Yurgen Briffa says that similarly, peo- ple in his own corner of the industry are at "their worst phase... nobody knows if we even have a job to carry out or not". Briffa said COVID-19 re- strictions are holding back couples from wedding plans due to higher costs. "They in- clude costs for security which are needed to control the crowd, people who need to be in charge to take the guests' temperatures, the cost of hir- ing chairs and tables as well Put a ring on it (but don't forget to sanitize first) COVID-19 has put the brakes on the big, fat Maltese wedding, raising costs for couples and toning down the raucous fun