NHSBSA private unlicensed cannabis prescription items for 2025

Official source: FOI-04096, response and data. Published 30 September 2026; metadata updated 8 October 2026. Copy retrieved 26 October 2026.

Monthly calculation from the supplied Part 1 CSV

The dataset counts items on private unlicensed cannabis prescriptions written in 2025 and dispensed in England. It does not count unique patients or smoking episodes. Later submissions and manual review can change totals. Each ITEMS value was summed without deduplicating product-name variants; independent CSV and pandas calculations agree.

Prescription year/month	Items
202501	92,153
202502	89,097
202503	107,353
202504	113,824
202505	124,010
202506	137,670
202507	161,665
202508	153,003
202509	183,977
202510	195,470
202511	197,537
202512	236,964
Total	1,792,723

Open exact supplied CSV. The publisher calls the resource FOI_04906_P1 within dataset FOI-04096. SHA256: e9a533969e3cf41a54ce251c9d796602cfb9cd6efc5b0d85d9725ecd2756cac9

Complete published request and response

##Request

You asked us:

For the avoidance of doubt, this request includes unlicensed cannabis-based medicinal products prescribed privately and dispensed in England, including cannabis flower, cannabis extracts and cannabis oils.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am requesting information relating to privately dispensed Cannabis-Based Medicinal Products (CBPMs) in England.

Information Requested

Please provide a dataset covering the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026, or the most recent period available if 2026 data is not yet complete.

For each cannabis-based medicinal product dispensed under a private prescription, please provide:

1) Product name as recorded by NHSBSA.

2) Product identifier (DM+D code, BNF code, or equivalent), where available.

3) Number of items dispensed.

4) Total quantity dispensed.

5) Unit of measure (e.g. grams, millilitres, units).

6) Monthly dispensing totals.

7) Annual dispensing totals.

Scope

This request relates specifically to:

* Cannabis-Based Medicinal Products (CBPMs);

* Schedule 2 cannabis-containing medicinal products;

* Dried cannabis flower;

* Cannabis oils and extracts;

* Other cannabis-derived medicinal products dispensed on private prescription.

Format

I would prefer the information to be provided in an editable format such as:

* Microsoft Excel (.xlsx), or

* CSV.

Refinement

If fulfilling this request in full would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the Act, please provide the information in the most detailed format possible within the cost limit, prioritising:

1) Product name;

2) Number of items dispensed; and

3) Quantity dispensed.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 2 September 2026.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

##Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested and a copy of the information is attached.

Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.

##Data Source

When prescriptions are processed by NHSBSA data capture, prescriptions sometimes contain prescribing of medicines that were not populated on the NHSBSA drug database at the time. This type of order will be captured as an ‘unspecified drug.’

Data for prescribing of unlicensed cannabis-based medicines has been taken from data captured as unspecified prescribing.

Unlicensed cannabis-based medicines are identified by an additional review process which occurs after the prescriptions have been processed. The items identified by this review are reported against the date that the prescription was written and not necessarily when they were submitted. These figures may be subject to change if prescriptions are submitted to the NHSBSA in later months.

##Private Prescribing

A private prescription is not an NHS prescription.

Private prescribing data is captured and processed for information purposes only and does not inform any payment processes. Only private prescriptions for schedule 2 and schedule 3 controlled drugs are required to be submitted to the NHSBSA by dispensing contractors for controlled drug monitoring purposes.

##This dataset

This dataset shows a breakdown of private unlicensed cannabis items prescribed, including the number of items prescribed for each product, aggregated by:

* the product name

* recorded strength

* volume

* presentation for each product.

The unlicensed cannabis data held by the NHSBSA is manually recorded from often handwritten prescriptions, and therefore there is no standardised naming convention for the product names, strength or volume listed within this data. This may lead to duplication of some product names, strength or volume depending on variations within how the data was prescribed and recorded.

Please note that there is no product identifier (such as a dm+d code or BNF Classification) held for this data. While unit of measure is not held as a specific column within the data, data related to strength is held in some cases and has been included as a relevant unit of measure (such as mg).

In some cases, there is no strength or volume for the product prescribed within the data.

As this dataset is manually maintained, please note that there will be data quality issues and manual errors within the data.

Due to the size of the datasets involved, this data is presented in two parts;

FOI_04096_P1- relates to presentations from 2025.

FOI_04096_P2- relates to presentations from 2026.

In May 2025, the NHSBSA changed the way it records cannabis prescribing to individually capture THC, CBD and Presentation (if known) within different columns, rather than one. Data within Part 1 of this FOI features prescribing that was recorded using the two different methods.

In some cases, prescriptions dispensed prior to May 2025 were not submitted to the NHSBSA until after the change in processing. In those cases, the data has been captured using the new method of recording THC, CBD and Presentation within separate columns.

##Time Period

January 2025 to May 2026, aggregated by month. Please note that May 2026 is currently the latest month for which data is available.

##Organisation Data

Data for private unlicensed prescriptions is limited to prescriptions dispensed in England.

##Items

Items show the number of times a product appears on a prescription form, not the quantity prescribed.

##Data Queries

Please contact <a href="mailto: foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk"> foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a> ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

##Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact <a href="mailto: communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk">communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a>. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.