UK Allows Medical Cannabis Use from November 2018
Medicinal cannabis oil will be available on prescription from next month, the Home Secretary has said today.
From November 1, UK laws will change to allow cannabis-based products for medicinal use to be prescribed in England, Scotland and Wales, according to a written statement from Sajid Javid.
The dramatic change to policy follows a review into medical scandal after high profile cases of patients being denied products containing THC, the psychoactive compound that makes users ‘high’.
Epileptic boy Billy Caldwell was even banned from taking cannabis oil that was prescribed to him abroad. He was given back the medicine after a high profile campaign spearheaded by his mother forced Mr Javid to grant a 20-day emergency licence for its use.
The Home Secretary has insisted today’s change is not the first step towards the broader legalisation of cannabis.
Mr Javid announced on 19 June that the Misuse of Drugs Regulations act of 2001 was being reviewed in a two-part investigation to allow for the prescription of medicinal-cannabis products.
In the first part of the review, the chief medical advisor, Professor Dame Sally Davies, concluded there was evidence that medicinal cannabis has therapeutic benefits.
The second part, carried out by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), recommended drugs that meet a clear definition of a cannabis-derived medicinal products should be placed in Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.
Cannabis was previously considered Schedule 1. Drugs in this class are thought to have no medicinal value and therefore cannot be legally possessed or prescribed.
Schedule 2 drugs, such as ketamine, are those that can be prescribed and supplied by doctors and pharmacists. They can also be legally possessed by anyone with a prescription.
According to Mr Javid, cannabis drugs will only will be re-classed as Schedule 2 if they meet the following:
- Contain cannabis, cannabis resin, the compound cannabinol or a cannabinol derivative
- Are produced for medicinal use in humans
- Are a medicinal product or used as an ingredient in a medicinal product
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil can already legally be bought on the high street due to it not containing the psychoactive compound THC.
Cannabis oil was thrust into the limelight when epileptic boy Billy Caldwell’s mother had seven bottles confiscated at Heathrow Airport customs.
The 12-year-old sparked a row over the medicinal status of the oil, prompting the Home Office to step in and grant his mother Charlotte an emergency licence for his product that was calming his seizures, which contained THC.
Billy’s bottles were confiscated on June 11 after she brought them in from Toronto.
On the back of the cases of Billy and fellow epileptic boy Alfie Dingley, six, Home Secretary Sajid Javid called for a review into medicinal cannabis.
In a major shift of policy, he announced in July that some products containing the drug would be available on prescription in the UK from the autumn. And earlier this week it was revealed cannabis-based products for medicinal use will only be available for specialist doctors – not GPs – to prescribe legally.
Officials have yet to confirm which medicines may be prescribed, but said they must be regulated as a medicinal product.
Read more at www.dailymail.co.uk
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