The Luxembourg Health Ministry led by Lydia Mutsch announced that a government bill legalising cannabis for medical use will soon come into force.

The first steps will be to implement a two-year pilot scheme, which will be held in cooperation with other ministries, the statement made on Tuesday declared, but it came with a caution that it will not be used as a solution or remedy for all illnesses.

During the scheme, the number of potentially beneficiary patients, as well as prescription indications, will be evaluated. Amendments to the 1973 law and to the Grand Ducal regulations for the sale of medicines and the fight against drug dependence, will also be necessary.

Mutsch stressed that medical marijuana is "not the solution to everything", adding that its benefits are currently known to help a series of symptoms associated with different diseases.

Addressing the use of "other possible applications" for the plant, "it is necessary to give science time to do its work," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

(Adam Walder, adam.walder@wort.lu, +352 49939721)