Doctors in England, Scotland and Wales will soon be able to prescribe cannabis derived medicine in less than a month. And this comes from no less an authority than the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid.
Sajid Javid – Home Secretary
In a written statement this is what he had to say. “I have been clear that my intention was always to ensure that patients have access to the most appropriate course of medical treatment. I stressed the importance of acting swiftly to ensure that, where medically appropriate, these products could be available to be prescribed to patients.”
The Home Secretary went on to state, “I have been consistently clear that I have no intention of legalising the recreational use of cannabis. To take account of the particular risk of misuse of cannabis by smoking and the operational impacts on enforcement agencies, the 2018 regulations continue to prohibit smoking of cannabis, including of cannabis-based products for medicinal use in humans.”
The changes come after a number of high-profile cases involving children being denied access to cannabis oil to control epileptic seizures. The cases included those of Billy Caldwell, 12, and Alfie Dingley, six, who have forms of of intractable epilepsy, that appear to be eased by cannabis oil.