MoJ 260112115 response 28 April 2026

Authority case reference: 260112115

Ministry of Justice design and implementation

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Pete Lindsay 
pete.lindsay@justicebydesign.org.uk 
 
Disclosure & Library Team 
Ministry of Justice 
102 Petty France  
London 
SW1H 9AJ 
 
data.access@justice.gov.uk 
 
28 April 2026 
 
Dear Mr Lindsay,   
 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request – 260112115  
 
Thank you for your request received 12 January 2026 in which you asked for the 
following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):   
 
This request is made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 
 
It forms part of an ongoing, transparent research programme examining the 
regulatory, criminal law, equality, and real-world impacts of the framework 
governing cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs). The 
programme builds on material previously submitted to the Advisory Council 
on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) Call for Evidence on CBPMs, which closed on 
17 October 2025, and on subsequent analytical updates and correspondence 
provided to the ACMD as the evidence base has continued to develop.  
 
This request relies on Annex A (Publicly Available Documentary Chronology, 
A1–A15) as the complete publicly available factual record evidencing the 
commissioning of advice, ministerial responses, parliamentary statements, 
guidance, and statutory instruments relevant to the Misuse of Drugs 
(Amendments) (Cannabis and Licence Fees) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/1055).  
 
It also draws on Annex B (Legal Comparators) and Annex C (Comparative 
Legislative Framework) as contextual analysis. Annex B sets out orthodox 
comparators for criminal-law signalling, safeguards and proportionality in 
prescribed-medicine contexts, and Annex C provides cross-framework 
comparison of exemption-withdrawal versus primary-offence models, 
proportionality norms, patient-facing criminal signalling, and equality / Public 
Sector Equality Duty (PSED) comparators. 
 
Your request has been handled under the FOIA. 
 
Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to you.  
 
The MoJ does not hold any information in the scope of your request. This is because 
we are not the appropriate authority to contact on this subject. You may wish to

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contact the Home Office for this information. You can submit an FOI using the details 
provided below. 
 
Direct Communications Unit 
2 Marsham Street 
London 
SW1P 4DF 
 
foirequests@homeoffice.gov.uk 
 
The FOIA does not oblige a public authority to create information to answer a 
request if the requested information is not held. The duty is to only provide the 
recorded information held. 
 
Appeal Rights  
 
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to request an internal 
review by responding in writing to one of the addresses below within 40 working  
days of the date of this response.  
 
data.access@justice.gov.uk 
 
Disclosure & Library Team, Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 
9AJ 
 
You do have the right to ask the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to 
investigate any aspect of your complaint. However, please note that the ICO is likely 
to expect internal complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning 
their investigation. 
 
Yours sincerely  
 
HM Prison and Probation Service Briefing and Correspondence Team