Unfortunately, the recently released draft NICE guide for prescribing cannabis-based medicines is even more restrictive than the initial position of the NHS. Due to lack of sufficient evidence, they only recommend prescribing nabilone, a synthetic drug containing THC, for chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting, and explicitly state that no cannabis product should be prescribed for chronic pain, unless it is part of a clinical trial. Fortunately, NICE has recommended that further research be conducted to examine the clinical and cost-effective relationship of CBPM in fibromyalgia or treatment-resistant persistent neuropathic pain in adults, chronic pain in children and young people, CBD for severe treatment-resistant epilepsy, THC in combination with CBD for severe treatment-resistant epilepsy, CBPM for spasticity and intractable nausea and vomiting. Before the publication of the NICE guidelines, very few patients had been prescribed CBPM through the NHS.
Many patients have turned to the private health sector, which is not subject to the same financial restrictions as the NHS, although private specialists, doctors and doctors at medical marijuana clinics should only prescribe when there is a clear and unmet clinical need. However, the list of conditions suitable for prescribing CBPM may be broader and include chronic pain, fibromyalgia, neurodegenerative diseases, migraines, PTSD, and anxiety. The cost of medical cannabis varies from person to person depending on their condition and dosage. The cost of a monthly dose ranges from 75 to 120 pounds sterling per 10 grams at The Medical Cannabis Clinics.
By law, a prescription for medical cannabis can only be delivered “when the patient has an unmet special clinical need that cannot be met with authorized products”. For many people in the UK, the only realistic way to access cannabis for medical purposes is through a private prescription. In effect, this means that if the medical specialist prescribing it believes that there is sufficient evidence of the effectiveness of cannabis as a treatment for a particular condition, he can prescribe medical marijuana. An estimated 1.4 million Britons use illicit cannabis for medical purposes, despite the fact that non-medical cannabis is considered a class B drug in the United Kingdom.
All of which should mean that in the near future it will be easier to obtain a prescription for medical cannabis both through the NHS and in private clinics. If you are a patient in the UK waiting to get a prescription for medical marijuana it would be easy to feel discouraged by the slow progress that is being made. Instead many people across the country are turning to private medical cannabis clinics to offer them cost-effective cannabis drugs within a time frame that suits them. Many clinics across the UK have partnered with the Twenty21 Project to make medical cannabis as accessible as possible.
Different brands of medical cannabis can obtain their products in different locations often from EU countries and Africa. The people most likely to be prescribed medical cannabis on the NHS are children and adults with rare and severe forms of epilepsy adults with vomiting or nausea due to chemotherapy and people with muscle stiffness and spasms caused by multiple sclerosis. This is largely due to the guidelines of the National Institute for Excellence in Health and Care (NICE) which continue to state that there is no evidence to support NHS cannabis prescriptions despite the fact that this treatment works for thousands of people across the UK. The doctor does not need to recommend cannabis or favor it as a medical treatment he only needs to indicate that the patient has the medical condition or conditions in question.
