Yes We Can(nabis)!

Facing increasing public pressure on medicinal cannabis, the UK government recently announced that doctors will be able to prescribe cannabis to patients with “exceptional clinical need” by autumn 2018. The decision follows advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to UK home secretary Sajid Javid that cannabis can have therapeutic benefits. However, Javid was careful to point out that the move is “in no way a first step to the legalization of cannabis for recreational use.”

Debate on medical cannabis has been raging in the UK in recent months, following several high profile cases of British children with epilepsy forced to discontinue the cannabis oil that their parents claim is vital in managing their condition. Last year, Billy Caldwell, a 12-year-old with severe epilepsy, became the first UK patient to be prescribed cannabis oil. When his doctor was ordered to cancel his prescription and Billy was hospitalized with severe seizures, his mother (along with parents of other children whose epilepsy appears to be improved by the drug) began a campaign to overturn the decision. Currently, cannabis is a Schedule 1 drug in the UK, meaning that it is considered to have no medical value – although it can be used in research. Following the home secretary’s decision, cannabis-derived medical products will fall under Schedule 2, and so will be available through prescription on a case-by-case basis.

Though it is illegal to possess, grow, distribute or sell cannabis in the UK without a license, a United Nations report published earlier this year revealed that the country is the world’s largest producer of cannabis for medical and scientific use. The UK is home to GW Pharmaceuticals, which is licensed to grow cannabis to produce prescription drugs Sativex and Epidiolex.