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UK: Legal cannabis: why only 18 people have been given a prescription in the UK despite the law changing Paul Gallagher iNews Wednesday 05 Feb 2020 When Joanne Griffiths met Matt Hancock last March, the Health Secretary told her it would be a matter of months before the cannabis-based medication she is desperately seeking for her severely epileptic son would be available. Almost a year on Ms Griffiths is still waiting - and she is not alone. When the previous Government announced that patients could be prescribed medicinal cannabis by specialist doctors from 1 November 2018 thousands of parents breathed a sigh of relief. Such products, obtained illegally or from abroad, were making an enormous difference to their children's lives. Yet as i revealed in November, just 18 NHS prescriptions had been issued since the change in the law. Unsurprisingly, Mr Hancock was asked on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday whether he had been lying to Ms Griffiths. "No, I met her and many other parents whose children benefit from these cannabis-based drugs. I changed the law to allow the cannabis-based drugs to be used in this country," he answered. "There was then a report from the National Institute which decides what is paid for on the NHS that came out exactly as she said a few months after our meeting and that report said that the costs that are being charged by the companies are too high. "Since then I've been working incredibly hard to try to get these drugs available on the NHS... I've been trying to move it forward but it's moved more slowly than I hoped for. I totally understand the efforts of the parents. We've got to keep trying to make progress on this. But it comes down to the drug companies to make them in the right way. They need to come to the table on this." Drug companies are only part of the problem, however. The NHS is still dragging its feet on being able to help families fund the cost of cannabis-based treatments. NHS England's website even admits that "very few people in England are likely to get a prescription for medical cannabis". Availability Currently, medicinal cannabis is only likely to be prescribed for the following conditions: epidyolex for children and adults with epilepsy, nabilone for chemotherapy patients, and nabiximols (sativex) for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Children like Alfie Dingley and Billy Caldwell, whose parents are still fighting for wider access to the new drugs, need the medicine to try to have a normal life - yet still face barriers. Only specialist doctors in hospitals are allowed to prescribe medicinal cannabis - GPs are not allowed - and many have been reluctant to do so, forcing parents to turn to private doctors and raise the cash themselves. Several families have accused Boris Johnson and Mr Hancock of betraying them and breaking promises to help them. They are going to No. 10 to hand in a petition calling for wider access to medicinal cannabis on the NHS and will meet MPs in Parliament to try and force action. Some of the families are even considering taking legal action against individual NHS trusts to push through change. At Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons today, Labour’s Ruth Jones asked when medicinal cannabis will be available for the families that need it. All the Prime Minister would say is that it was his government that legalised medicinal cannabis and that Mr Hancock will meet the families. The families themselves cannot afford to wait any longer. Change needs to happen now. https://inews.co.uk/news/health/cannabis-uk-prescriptions-law-change-matt-hancock-1386069
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