Medicinal cannabis legal on prescription in UK from today

The landmark decision to relax the laws on medicinal cannabis followed the high-profile cases of Billy Caldwell and Alfie Dingley, who had severe epilepsy and were refused cannabis oil treatments.

The cases prompted Home Secretary Sajid Javid to announce in June that there would be a review of the classification of medicinal cannabis. Following the findings of the review, Javid amended the legal classification of medicinal cannabis, placing it in Schedule 2 of the 2001 Misuse of Drugs Regulations, thus acknowledging its therapeutic value.

The new law that came in today means that medicinal cannabis products can be prescribed by specialist hospital doctors without a Home Office licence and approval from an expert panel, when there is clear published evidence of its benefit and other treatments have failed.

The new law will not limit the types of conditions that can be considered for treatment. Among those who stand to benefit from this landmark decision include those suffering from epilepsy and nausea and chronic pain caused by chemotherapy.

Memery Crystal have been staunch advocates of the drive to make medicinal cannabis legal in the UK, and are delighted that, as of today, many more patients with serious health conditions can now benefit from medicinal cannabis.