I absolutely understand the anguish of patients and their parents, who suffer on a daily basis. Please forgive me whilst I set out a little background. There is strong scientific evidence that cannabis is a drug which can harm people's mental and physical health, and damage communities. However, recent cases have shown the need to look more closely at the use of cannabis-based medicine in the healthcare sector in the UK. This is why the Government decided it was appropriate to review the scheduling of cannabis.
The decision to reschedule these products means that senior clinicians will be able to prescribe the medicines to patients with an exceptional clinical need.
Following short term advice issued in September 2018 the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) are to review the current rescheduling and its appropriateness by November 2020 and provide further initial advice on synthetic cannabinoids by summer 2020.
Moreover, NHS England has published a review which is aimed at assessing the barriers to prescribing cannabis-based medicinal products where it is safe and clinically appropriate to do so.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has also been developing updated clinical guidance on prescribing cannabis-based products for medicinal use, including for the management of chronic pain. NICE is currently consulting on the draft guidance.
The decision whether to prescribe an individual with medicinal cannabis is therefore not a political or financial decision, but a decision by a medical expert, who will have considered whether it is the most effective treatment based on an individual’s particular condition.
I will continue to closely monitor the roll-out of medicinal cannabis.
