United Kingdom: the government recognizes that cannabis has a medical effect

A major victory for the campaign to legalize cannabis in the UK. A UK government regulator has announced that certain cannabis products can be considered medicine.

The decision by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) applies to products containing cannabidiol (CBD), one of the plant's cannabinoids which can account for 40% of a cannabis extract, and which does not cause the psychoactive effects of THC, while retaining its medicinal properties.

As a result, the MHRA found that cannabidiol had effects «restoring, creating or modifying physiological functions» when administered to humans. «We have come to believe that cannabidiol (CBD)-containing products are a medicine,» said the MHRA. to Time. «Products for therapeutic use must have a drug license before they can be legally sold, supplied or advertised. Products must meet safety, quality and efficacy criteria to protect public health».

The government development actually came via a discussion between the MHRA and CBD vaporizer company MediPen, according to the Independent. «Since our inception, we have worked hard to achieve the goal of breaking the negative connotation surrounding Cannabis and bring about legal reform for the medical use of cannabis,» said Jordan Owen, MediPen Director. «This is now becoming a reality, and will provide revolutionary results.».

The company spoke to the MHRA after its legal team realized that no regulatory status existed for CBD, allowing anyone to sell it without any real regulation.

This explains why the British government has halted sales of CBD last week, announcing that companies had just 28 days left before being outlawed.

A change in the law was needed to prevent abuse and adulterated products, but MediPen can't have made many friends by bringing CBD sales to a halt, both among competing companies and patients, who now have just 3 weeks to stock up on CBD before sales are permanently suspended.