Medical cannabis in the news
Here are few articles about medical cannabis taken from reputable UK news sources. This page will be updated from time to time, so please check back.
Please note, some of the articles’ sources may be behind a pay-wall.
Cannabis ‘helps me massively’: using the drug under private prescription
Specialist doctors can prescribe cannabis for a range of conditions, provided two conventional treatments have been tried without success. Click here for more.
SOURCE: ITV
Cannabis Kids: The parents breaking the law to help their children with epilepsy
BBC File on 4 Investigates has discovered families going to extreme lengths to access a drug they say is keeping their children alive [BBC Radio]. Click here for more.
SOURCE: BBC
Medical cannabis to allow thousands to return to work?
Greater access could cut hospital admissions for eligible patients. Curaleaf is calling for NHS prescribing pathways and government-funded research to expand medical cannabis access. Click here for more.
SOURCE: FT
Families urge Government to fund medical cannabis research
Elaine Levy reveals she had to sell her home so she could afford private prescriptions for medical cannabis to treat her adult daughter’s epilepsy. Click here for more.
SOURCE: Sky News
Why is medical cannabis so difficult to obtain in the UK?
Legalised in 2018, very few patients in the UK have been prescribed medical cannabis, and the Government accused of misleading the public over its availability on the NHS. Click here for more.
SOURCE: BBC
Medical cannabis was legalised in 2018, but patients no better off
NICE still hasn’t carried out any studies on the safety and efficacy of cannabis since the law was changed, so patients have to pay for private prescriptions. Click here for more.
SOURCE: Sky News
Legitimate medical cannabis user, or lazy stoner?
Each day Jon Leeder wakes up, has breakfast, then takes medical cannabis before heading to work. Jon uses it to help with anxiety – but nobody he works with knew he took it. Click here for more.
SOURCE: BBC
Medical cannabis alleviates neuro and pyschiatric issues
Less strong than ‘street’ cannabis, medical cannabis can alleviate psychiatric and neurological disorders, without inducing psychosis. So why restrict its use? Click here for more.
SOURCE: The Guardian
United Kingdom is world’s largest producer of legal cannabis
Surprisingly, the UK is the world’s largest producer and exporter of legal cannabis for medical and scientific use, according to a report from a United Nations body. Click here for more.
SOURCE: Sky News
Cannabis painkiller ‘can replace opioids with no danger of addiction’
A new cannabis-based drug was effective at treating chronic back pain in clinical trials, offering hope for millions trapped in pain, insomnia and depression. Click here for more.
SOURCE: The Times
Medical cannabis – much needed, or more delays?
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) will carry out a formal, ‘much-needed’ review of the regulatory framework around cannabis-based medicinal products. Click here for more.
SOURCE: Cannabis Health News
It is time to provide legal access, the UK must not get left behind
As countries around the world take progressive steps towards providing legal access to medical cannabis, the UK must not let the opportunity for reform pass us by. Click here for more.
SOURCE: BMJ
Would a medical cannabis card help legitimate users?
A poll finds that nearly two million people are using the illegal cannabis market to alleviate symptoms and spending approx £3.6 billion on buying the drug each year. Click here for more.
SOURCE: Sky News
Medical cannabis company secures £2m investment to expand
Hilltop Leaf say the funds would help scale its infrastructure “to become one of the largest UK producers of medicinal cannabis products for the specialist prescription market”. Click here for more.
SOURCE: Sky News
Balancing both the risks and benefits of cannabis use
An umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and observational studies with meta-analyses of observational studies by the British Medical Journal. Click here for more.
SOURCE: BMJ
‘I break the law to buy my child’s life-saving cannabis’
Until recently, Jane would have described herself as a normal, law-abiding citizen. But that changed in 2024, when she started illegally buying cannabis oil online for her daughter. Click here for more.
SOURCE: BBC
Parent moved abroad so their son could take medical cannabis
As a teenager, Louis Petit’s seizures were so intense that his memory was just 30 seconds. New treatment, involving medical cannabis in the Netherlands, has changed his life. Click here for more.
SOURCE: The Times
Medical cannabis users protected by County Council
Medicinal cannabis users will be protected by Flintshire Council from discrimination – the first Welsh authority to make the move. Click here for more.
SOURCE: BBC
Parliament’s debates on medicinal cannabis since 2018
Hansard is the official record of Parliamentary debate and its records are available for the public to read. Here is a list of debates about the use of medicinal cannabis since 2018. Click here for more.
SOURCE: Hansard
Briefing document download
Clinicians are effectively prohibited from prescribing the only form of medication that may be clinically appropriate. Discrimination by Design examines how this anomaly arose – and how it can be remedied. Click the button below to view and/or download the document in PDF format.