Medical cannabis to be available on prescription within a month in UK
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Medical cannabis will be available on prescription in the UK within a month and experts say 10,000 MS sufferers could benefit.
Decisions on administering the currently illegal treatment will be made on a case by case basis until The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence issues the results of a review into routine funding of the treatment on the NHS.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that the Home Office will announce the ‘rescheduling’ of cannabis-derived medicines in Parliament.
This will lift restrictions that until now have meant the oil has been allowed only in the most exceptional circumstances, like that of rare form of epilepsy.
The case that saw the Home Office agreeing to release medicinal cannabis it confiscated from the mother of the 12-year-old boy with epilepsy who was returning from America with his prescription.
An announcement on the new move is expected in Parliament within a two weeks according to the Sunday Telegraph.
The move puts Britain on par with some of Europe’s most medical cannabis liberal countries.
The 12-year old’s mother revealed her son would have up to 100 seizures less per day due to the oil and his condition has improved dramatically.
Germany gave the go-ahead to medicinal cannabis last and in Britain joining them, the chronic pain of 28 million people could be eased.
There are an estimated 28 million people with chronic pain in the UK, with conditions including arthritis and multiple sclerosis (MS).
The decision revolves around easing laws on cannabis that has the active high ingredient, THC.
When used recreationally this chemical is what creates highs but cannabis oil without this active agent can already be purchased on the high street.
Cannabis-derived medicinal products currently sit in the Schedule 1 category for drugs that have professional uses.
Actress Leah Bracknell believes cannabis oil helps slow the effects of her terminal cancer.
These drugs require a licence from the Home Office licence but if the review on cannabis oil is successful it could mean a move into Schedule 2.
Genevieve Edwards, from the MS Society, told the Telegraph: ‘This is very encouraging progress for thousands of people with MS who have been forced to choose between living with relentless pain and muscle spasm or breaking the law.’
The case of Billy Caldwell the boy with epilepsy ended with Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, allowed legal prescriptions of medical cannabis to him following a specialist review by England’s chief medical officer earlier this year.
The move followed a long campaign by his mother, to allow her son to be legally treated with the oil.
After the rescheduling this autumn, users will no longer have to try many other opiate-based epileptic drugs before being allowed to use cannabis oil.
Leah Bracknell in Emmerdale, 2005
The 54-year-old says she would not be alive today if it wasn’t for the oil which is ‘as easy as baking a cake’ to make.
The former TV actress says the class B drug has reduced the side effects of chemotherapy which has improved her quality of life.
In a blog post titled Cannabis and Me: Breaking the Law, she said: ‘I envy Theresa May… I envy the fact that the naughtiest thing she has ever done is run through a field of wheat.
‘How might she have fared had she had to break the law to buy cannabis to give herself or a loved one the chance of life?’
The mother-of-two was diagnosed with terminal stage four lung cancer in 2016.
The star who played Zoe Tate suddenly felt breathless while climbing stairs and her abdomen swelled up, but she saw four GPs in 10 days before she was finally taken to A&E.
She was diagnosed with inoperable and incurable cancer and started targeted biological therapy on the NHS to prolong her life.
In August 2017, the actress and yoga teacher revealed the treatment had stopped working and that she was relying on alternative treatments such as plant-based healing oils and sessions in an infrared sauna.
She admitted she used oil ‘high in THC’ every day since leaving the hospital two years ago.
If cancer is a deficiency of endocannabinoids in the body and them endocannabinoids are named as such because of their almost identical molecular structure , then cancer is not an entity and if a family member gets exo cannabinoids(plant based ) that match those endo cannabinoids ( anandamidal enzymes ) that are deficient, surely they will do the job and switch off them misbehaving cells. The runaway tissue production (tumour) will stop and those bad cells multiplying will be stopped too.
It is suggested in bone cancer to ensure the treatment has a cannabinoid called CNC 😉 AND ALWAYS USE THE BROADEST SPECTRUM OF CANNABINOIDS POSSIBLE FOR MEDICAL APPLICATION WHERE CANCER IS INVOLVED.
Cannabis is already listed as a treatment for MS in Britain as Sativex which is only available on an expensive private prescription unless you live in wales and it is far too expensive for the average person. It will not be made available for patients suffering from fibromyalgia or arthritis or the side effects of chemotherapy. In other words there will be no change to current policy apart from the pretence that the things have changed. In response to high profile cases there will be high profile announcements that the government will consider change.
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