All five political parties in the Catalan parliament in Spain have signed a proposal to legalise the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. The agreement asks the Catalan government to negotiate with the Spanish authorities so that cannabis—either as a drug or as a standardised extract of the plant—may be used to treat medical disorders.

Once the bill is approved in the Catalan parliament, it may be submitted to the Spanish parliament for discussion and eventual voting.

The initiative came from a collective of 300 women with breast cancer called the “Agata group” (after Saint Agata, who had her breasts removed under torture) and from a journalist, Nuria Nogueras, who recently died of the disease and who found the drug helpful during chemotherapy. …