Legalise cannabis for health use, advisers urge Javid

THE legalisation of cannabis for health purposes moved a step closer last night after an influential group of government advisers backed the move.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) said there is ‘evidence of medicinal benefit of some of these products in certain circumstances’ and recommended they should be able to be prescribed if they meet safety standards. The council indicated the decision should not be seen as a route to more general legalisation – stressing there was evidence only ‘some’ products were beneficial and only for ‘certain medical conditions for some patients’.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who will make a final ruling on a change to the law, asked the ACMD to examine the issue after cannabis oil was confiscated from Charlotte Caldwell and her 12-year-old epileptic son Billy earlier this year.

In a letter, ACMD chairman Dr Owen Bowden-Jones wrote: ‘We recommend that cannabis-derived medicinal products of the appropriate standard be moved out of Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. It is important that clinicians, patients and their families are confident that any prescribed medication is safe and effective.’

Psychiatrists have long warned that cannabis can have serious impact on the brain. Professor Sir Simon Wessely, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said last year that cannabis ‘carries significant mental health risks’, including psychosis and depression.