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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Tories block Manchester MP's bid to give patients access to NHS cannabis treatments Dan O'Donoghue Manchester Evening Press Friday 10 Dec 2021 A Manchester MP's bid to open up cannabis treatments on the NHS has been blocked by Tory backbenchers in the House of Commons. Despite the Government legalising medicinal cannabis in 2018, following a number of high-profile campaigns, thousands of people are still being denied access to the treatment. Only three prescriptions have been provided on the NHS in the last three years, leaving some families with no choice but to get private prescriptions, which can cost up to £2,000 a month. It has has left many families forced to rely on crowdfunding to be able to pay for their children’s life-changing treatment. Withington MP Jeff Smith, speaking in the Commons, said "this has gone on too long". He added: "Significant numbers of people who would benefit from being prescribed medical cannabis on the NHS aren’t able to get the prescriptions that they need.” Putting forward a Private Member’s Bill, the MP said one of his constituents was having to fork out almost £700 a month for their grandson’s medicine. “Families of patients in the most urgent need often have to resort to support from crowdfunding or from individual donors to keep their medicine going. “And really patients having to crowdfund for private-prescribed medicine because they can’t get it on the NHS is just not right in this country.” Mr Smith's Bill would create a register of GPs who can complete training that would make them eligible to prescribe the medicine, in addition to the specialist doctors who are currently allowed to prescribe. He added: “What my Bill proposes today is that we set up a commission to propose a framework for the assessment of cannabis-based medicines and their suitability for prescription in England to sit alongside the existing MHRA processes for conventional pharmaceutical drugs.” Mr Smith said the commission could give doctors and NHS bodies “more confidence in the evidence for prescribing these particular unlicensed medicines”, as currently one of the barriers for prescription is doctors not being confident in prescribing the drugs. The Labour MP also said the new framework would look at alternative methods of testing the drugs, as randomised controlled testing, the current “gold-standard” of medical evidence for drug testing, was “not suitable” for “whole plant extract” cannabis-based medicines because of the variety of chemical compounds within them. But the Bill, which was debated this afternoon, was "talked out" by Tory backbenchers - meaning it will have to be re-tabled for discussion at a later date. Without government support, the Bill is unlikely to become law. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/tories-block-manchester-mps-bid-22425898
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