PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Cannabis: Medical Treatments (2 March 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment NICE has made of the potential medical benefits of cannabis-based medicinal products for treatment of chronic pain; and whether NICE is considering extending licencing of those products for that purpose.

Asked by:
Mr Richard Holden (Conservative)

On 11 November 2019, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published clinical guidelines on the prescribing of cannabis-based medicinal products for people with intractable nausea and vomiting, chronic pain, spasticity and severe treatment-resistant epilepsy. The guidelines recommend that cannabis-based medicinal products are not offered to manage chronic pain in adults and that cannabidiol only be offered as part of a clinical trial. NICE recognises the lack of evidence to support the use of these medicines and recommends that further research is carried out on the clinical and cost effectiveness as an add-on treatment for persistent treatment-resistant neuropathic pain and chronic pain in adults, children and young people. Further information and the clinical guidelines are available on the NICE website at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10124

Answered by:
Jo Churchill (Conservative)
10 March 2020