Now doctors can start prescribing medical cannabis

DOCTORS will be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis from next month, the Home Secretary has announced.

Sajid Javid said he had been moved to ‘swift action’ by the heartbreaking accounts of children fighting for access to the drug.

Consultants will be able to treat patients with cannabis-derived products for conditions including epilepsy and multiple sclerosis from November 1. The rules follow several high-profile court cases.

Billy Caldwell, 13, of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, became the first patient to be given a prescription of medicinal cannabis oil.

He had travelled to Canada with his mother Charlotte earlier this year to obtain a six-month supply but it was confiscated at Heathrow, leading him to become severely unwell.

Mr Javid intervened a week later and issued an urgent licence so the oil could be returned to the family. He subsequently granted a licence for a second boy with severe epilepsy, Alfie Dingley, six, of Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

Last night, Alfie’s mother, Hannah Deacon said: ‘Today is a momentous day for every family with a child who wish to access medicinal cannabis.

‘We urge the medical world to get behind these reforms.’