Ireland to legalise use of cannabis treatments

Ireland is to become the latest country to legalise the use of cannabis for treating specific medical conditions.

Despite a government-ordered report warning of a lack of evidence over the drug’s effectiveness and safety, Simon Harris, Dublin’s health minister, has given the green light for its use in certain circumstances.

Treatments could be allowed for conditions “where patients have not responded to other treatments and there is some evidence that cannabis may be effective”. They will include multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.

A cross-party group of MPs backed a report last November calling for legalisation in the UK.