Medical cannabis access bill set for second reading in Parliament

A new bill, which could see GPs permitted to prescribe medical cannabis, will have its second reading in the House of Commons this week.

The Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill, which aims to improve access to cannabis products for medical purposes, will have its second reading in Parliament on Friday 10 December.

The bill was introduced by Jeff Smith, Labour MP for Manchester Withington in June 2021, with the aim of removing some of the barriers which prevent patients accessing medical cannabis products.

This includes expanding the ability to prescribe unlicensed cannabis medical products to GPs who are on a register maintained by the General Medical Council.

The bill proposes that all GPs included on the register should be permitted to prescribe cannabis.

Currently GPs in the UK are only able to prescribe as part of a shared care arrangement, under the direction of a specialist consultant. 

Three years since the law changed in 2018, the UK is facing what has been described as a ‘crisis’ in access to medical cannabis.

Only three prescriptions have been issued on the NHS and there is currently only one paediatric consultant prescribing to around 50 children with epilepsy who hold private prescriptions. He is no longer taking on new patients due to demand.

There have been repeated calls for GPs to be allowed to prescribe directly to patients, with campaigners and doctors claiming this would improve access to cannabis-based medicines.

A survey of 1,000 practicing GPs, carried out by the Primary Care Cannabis Network, found that three quarters were open-minded about medical cannabis and almost a quarter (24 percent) would be willing to take on the role of prescribing and overseeing treatment.

The bill also aims to establish a Commission for the assessment of cannabis based medicinal products.

​​This would propose a framework for the assessment of cannabis-based medicines and their suitability for prescription in England, as well as making recommendations of measures to overcome barriers to NHS access.

Speaking to the House magazine in June, Mr Smith said: “My bill is aimed at breaking through the barriers stopping patients being able to access medical cannabis. It’s a campaign that I’ve been involved in for some time, and although medical cannabis is legal, lots of patients aren’t able to get NHS prescriptions. 

He added: “I’ve got constituents who are affected by this, as have many other MPs. One of my constituents, for example, is paying a fortune for a private prescription for his grandson, and it shouldn’t be like that. “It is a complicated issue, but I’m looking forward to working with ministers and officials on how we might solve the problem.”