The British NHS plans to produce cannabis oil

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is considering producing its own medical cannabis for the first time as part of a clinical trial for children with severe epilepsy, according to news from Telegraph.

NHS officials hope a clinical trial will give doctors the evidence they need for more mass prescription for children with epilepsy in the UK. Since the legalization of medical cannabis in 2018 in the UK, no new patients received prescriptions to join the therapeutic cannabis program. Several reasons are cited, including administrative complexity and lack of training for doctors.

In a letter to a group of MPs concerned about access to medical cannabis, Professor Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, said health officials «continue to work with the small number of manufacturers able to produce suitable medicines to support the trial. and are exploring production by the NHS».

«Progress has been made in the design and approval of a randomized clinical trial in refractory epilepsy, where the efficacy of cannabis-based medications can be evaluated,» he wrote.

«This trial will be essential to ensure that an evidence base for cannabis-based medicines can be developed to support future marketing decisions.»

No final decision has been made, but plans could see the NHS growing its own cannabis and manufacturing THC-containing oil, to reduce seizures in severely epileptic children or relieve the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.