PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Cannabis: Medical Treatments (30 October 2020)

Question Asked

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to provide medicinal cannabis prescriptions on the NHS.

Asked by:
Charlotte Nichols (Labour)

Answer

Following the rescheduling of cannabis-based products for medicinal use under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, as of 1 November 2018, doctors on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register have been able to prescribe these medicines, where clinically appropriate and in the best interests of patients. The same rules apply regardless of whether medicinal cannabis is prescribed on the National Health Service or privately.

Two licensed cannabis-based medicines have recently been made available for prescribing on the NHS for patients with Multiple Sclerosis or hard to treat epilepsies, where clinically appropriate. This follows clear demonstrated evidence of their safety, and clinical and cost effectiveness.


Answered by:
Jo Churchill (Conservative)
23 November 2020

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