Medicinal cannabis available via the HSE from next month

THE first medicinal cannabis product provided through the HSE will be available to patients from next month, it has been confirmed.

The HSE said that CannEpil, a cannabidiol (CBD)-based medication, is to be made available during October as part of its Medical Cannabis Access Programme.

It comes after the Department of Health made the taking of cannabis through a medicine part of its health service earlier this year. It is available to a limited number of patients and can be accessed with the correct prescription from a consultant.

The HSE’s assistant national director of primary care reimbursement services, Shaun Flanagan, said it’s expected CannEpil will become available in October.

In Ireland, cannabis is a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Acts.

In January, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly secured funding for the programme and outlined how patients would access medicinal cannabis from the HSE.

Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan questioned whether they system is ‘sufficiently firewalled’ to prevent the medicine from falling into the ‘wrong hands’ and ensure it would be strictly for medicinal purposes.

Lorraine Nolan, chief executive of Health Products Regulatory Authority, said they are satisfied that the system is in line with the recommendations it made in 2017.

Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, who has long campaigned for the use of medicinal cannabis in Ireland, said: ‘The long process to here has been frustrating for people. People will be scratching their head and saying, “Why has this taken so long for this process to begin?” The good news is that the process is beginning in a few weeks under prescription.’