UK: government opens up to medical cannabis

The British government will begin accepting applications from patients for cannabis treatments next week, and Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced broader reform of cannabis laws.

A commission of experts will thus be set up to study the evidence of the medical benefits of cannabis and determine which products should be eligible for distribution. The commission will be headed by Prof. Dame Sally Davies, who has already spoken against the criminalization of drug users. As the assessment process is not time-limited, a clinical panel will in the meantime study patient requests on a case-by-case basis, and issue exceptional and temporary prescriptions.

Alfie Dingley, a young child with epilepsy, picked up his prescription immediately, after his mother explained that she had been waiting for three months for Theresa May to obtain authorization to give him cannabis oil.

«If the review identifies significant benefits, we will reclassify cannabis,» explained Sajid Javid.

Cannabis is not only a Class B drug, but also a Schedule 1 medicine, which groups together substances of no medical interest, even though GW Pharmaceuticals produces in the UK of cannabis for the manufacture of Sativex and’Epidiolex, drugs to treat multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Should the therapeutic efficacy of cannabis be proven for certain diseases, the government could then reclassify cannabis in a less restrictive Schedule.

Sajid Javid added that the decision should not be seen as an endorsement of the non-medical uses of cannabis.

«This step is by no means a first step towards legalizing cannabis for recreational use. The government has no intention of legalizing cannabis, and penalties for illegal distribution and possession will remain unchanged.»

This morning, Lord William Hague, former Conservative leader called in the Daily Telegraph to the legalization of recreational and medical cannabis in the UK.