Drug Science launches medical cannabis pilot

The pilot will focus on providing cannabis-derived treatments to patients on occasions where alternative treatment has failed, for conditions including chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, Tourette’s syndrome and PTSD.

The project will gather evidence describing the efficacy, safety, quality adjusted life year and patient outcomes from those prescribed medical cannabis.

Drug Science Chair Professor David Nutt said: “This will allow patients to get vital therapy without breaking the law. It will also provide a solid clinical database from which experience of and confidence in medical cannabis prescribing will develop, providing a foundation for other medical prescribers to build on.”

This data will be used to support applications to health authorities in the aim of initiating a new regulatory system for medical cannabis in the UK.

Last year, the Home Office ruled to authorise the use of prescribed medical cannabis by specialist doctors. Despite this, there have been relatively few prescriptions on the NHS, said Professor David Nutt.

“To rectify this impasse Drug Science has joined forces with the United Patients Alliance, leading academics and several medical cannabis producers to open up a treatment network for up to 20,000 patients,” he said.

Drug Science is the UK’s independent body for drugs science. It conducts research into positive and negative effects of drugs that are or may be made available to the public.