Drug law should be changed to allow doctors to prescribe medical cannabis to patients who need it the second stage of a Home Office-ordered review has concluded.
Earlier in July, home secretary Sajid Javid asked the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to give a verdict on rescheduling marijuana after relaxing rules was recommended by England’s chief medical officer.
On Thursday, “short-term” advice from the ACMD agreed there was sufficient evidence of benefits of cannabis in treating conditions like epilepsy, and relaxing current schedule one restrictions would help patients and enable more research into its benefits.
It had been asked to recommend whether the change should occur within three weeks, but in its letter to Mr Javid the ACMD said the government should first put in place a system for classifying medical grade cannabis products.
This will require a consultation, alongside the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) which licenses drugs in the UK.
The ACMD says this should be completed in a “timely manner” to allow doctors to begin prescribing products which meet this strict new standard and says it will then complete its long-term review on where cannabis products should be reclassified.
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