Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday called on lawmakers to legalize medical cannabis, saying the treatment could provide relief to those in the country suffering from the “trauma of war.” 

Zelensky made the comments in an address before his country’s parliament. 

“We must finally fairly legalize cannabis-based medicines for all those who need them, with appropriate scientific research and controlled Ukrainian production,” Zelensky said, as quoted by UPI.

“All the world’s best practices, all the most effective policies, all the solutions, no matter how difficult or unusual they may seem to us, must be applied to Ukraine so that Ukrainians, all our citizens, do not have to endure the pain, stress and trauma of war,” he added, according to the news organization. 

Russia invaded and subsequently occupied parts of Ukraine last year, marking a bloody and costly escalation of the hostilities between the two countries. In April, Reuters, citing a “trove of purported U.S. intelligence documents” that had been published online, estimated that as many as “354,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured in the Ukraine war.”

As UPI noted, “Zelensky’s support for medical cannabis legalization also remains consistent as evidenced in 2019, during his presidential campaign, when he said it would be ‘normal’ to allow people to access cannabis ‘droplets.’”

Zelensky’s comments on Wednesday also echo what his cabinet has said recently. 

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Health Minister Viktor Liashko said in a Facebook post that the government had put forward legislation to legalize medical cannabis treatment. In the post, Liashko invoked the ongoing war with Russia as a reason to make the treatment available.

“We understand the negative consequences of the war on the mental health camp,” Liashko wrote in the Facebook post. “We understand the number of people who will require medical treatment in the last breath.”

“Cannabis drugs are not ‘competitors’ to drugs, and measures to regulate their circulation are completely different. Medical cannabis contains cannabidiol, which has no pronounced psychoactive effect, so it’s not suitable for recreational use,“ Liashko continued. “To that, at the same time, we were prepared by the legislator for the preparation of a new cycle of production of preparations based on cannabis in Ukraine: from the development of that processing to full production.”

In the first month of Russia’s invasion last year, a number of cannabis companies in the United States stepped up to provide financial support to Ukraine. 

MediThrive CEO Misha Breyburg donated proceeds from weed sales to a charity providing aid to Ukrainians. Breyburg also had the MediThrive dispensary in San Francisco’s Mission District painted in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine hits home for the founders of MediThrive. CEO Misha Breyburg and his colleagues are Ukrainian Jewish refugees who immigrated from Odessa, Ukraine to the United States as children in the 1970s,” the company said in a statement at the time. “MediThrive believes that everyone should have access to medicine and quality health care. The Medi in our name tells of our humble beginning as a medical cannabis dispensary that filled the cannabis prescriptions of cancer and AIDS patients. In the 1990s, the dispensary opened its doors to patients under the United State’s Compassionate Care Act. We are the oldest cannabis dispensary and delivery service location in San Francisco. Today, we are more than just a medical and recreational cannabis provider; our roots run deep in our community.”

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As war wages in Ukraine, cannabis industry businesses across the United States are doing their part to help those caught in the ravages of the conflict. Russia invaded its smaller neighbor Ukraine on February 24 after massing on the border between the two nations for months, leading to a humanitarian crisis.

In California, San Francisco’s MediThrive dispensary is raising funds to donate to the Sunflower of Peace, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit working to support the Ukrainian people in the midst of the Russian invasion. MediThrive CEO Misha Breyburg is a Ukrainian Jewish refugee who immigrated from Odessa, Ukraine to the United States as a child in the 1970s. 

“This hits especially close to home, especially for Jewish Ukrainians,” he told the Jewish News of Northern California. “I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do something.”

To show his support for the people of Ukraine, Breyburg had the dispensary storefront in the Mission District painted blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian national flag. The business is also donating the proceeds of all cannabis sales made on March 6 to Sunflower of Peace, whose fundraising efforts are providing medical and humanitarian aid to those affected by the war in Ukraine. 

“While many charitable efforts focus on providing Ukraine with food and military aid, the medical professionals responding to the crisis in Ukraine struggle to treat the wounded and sick,” MediThrive said in a statement. “They require more medical and survival supplies.”

MediThrive will also donate 10 percent of cannabis sales through March 13 to Sunflower of Peace, which incorporates the Ukrainian national flower into its name and logo. On Monday, Breyburg said the drive had already raised “in the high five figures.”

“It felt pretty incredible,” he said.

Sunflower of Peace was founded in 2014 with a mission to mobilize support and aid for Ukrainian orphans and internally displaced persons. After the coronavirus pandemic took hold of Europe and the rest of the world, the organization turned its focus to Ukrainians most impacted by COVID-19. And following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces launched last month, Sunflower of Peace has again pivoted to put its efforts where they are needed most.

“Due to the current crisis in Ukraine, Sunflower of Peace started a new fundraiser to provide medical and humanitarian aid that will be used by the paramedics and doctors in the areas that are affected by the violence in Ukraine,” the group writes on its website. “We are acquiring and distributing first-aid backpacks, medicine, medical instruments and other means of survival that are saving hundreds of lives. These supplies meant the world to people affected by violence when we started our first fundraiser in 2015, and they mean the world to all Ukrainians now.”

Pot and Pierogies in Detroit

In Detroit, cannabis dispensary and cultivation center Luxury Loud is teaming up with Srodek’s Quality Polish Food for a Pot and Pierogies fundraiser for Ukraine. Luxury Loud will donate 100 percent of its sales on March 13 to UNICEF for the children of Ukraine, while Srodek’s food truck was offering complimentary pierogies and kielbasa for a donation. 

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is also personal for principals at Luxury Loud. Grower and engineering manager Marko Malinowski and his brother Christian Malinowski, one of the partners in the business, are Ukrainian Americans who are well-known in Detroit’s Ukrainian community.

“It’s a little more unique,” Malinowski told the Detroit Free Press. “Pot and Pierogi kind of catches people’s attention for some reason, and they do go well together actually.”

Cannabis public relations firm Mattio Communications is also raising funds for Ukraine by matching donations to one of several organizations working to secure the safety and security of Ukrainians. The company will match donations through a campaign on social media announced last week.

“As we watch in horror as violence and heartbreak spreads through Ukraine, the need for action has never been greater,” the company wrote in a statement to High Times. “The Mattio Communications team will be matching all donations made to the United Nations Refugee Agency, Kyiv Independent, Voices of Children, Amnesty International and CARE Ukraine Crisis Fund up to $3,000. Simply make your donation, and send a screenshot to @MattioCommuncations on Instagram.”

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