Prescriptions for medical cannabis are surging – as are concerns about regulation

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By Adele Waters, Erin Dean and Jane Kirby, Press Association

Eight years after legalisation of medical cannabis for some conditions, private practice is booming to meet patient demand. Patient safety experts say urgent regulation is needed.

It has been almost eight years since medical cannabis was approved for use in the UK. Cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) are only available for a handful of conditions on the NHS – but private prescriptions are booming.

Emotions can run high in the debate, as it often involves families whose relatives are struggling with difficult-to-treat conditions

While just 880 patients were issued with CBPMs on the NHS in England last year – a figure that is dwarfed by the 1.3 billion prescription items dispensed in that time through NHS community pharmacies – a new analysis reveals that almost two million private prescriptions for products were made in that time.

This has prompted England’s patient safety commissioner Professor Henrietta Hughes to say there is a need for urgent action to protect the public when they seek medical cannabis prescriptions remotely.