Asked by Baroness Meacher To ask Her Majesty's Government
whether they have plans to revisit the inclusion of cannabis in
Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, in the light of claims
regarding its medicinal significance. Lord Young of Cookham
(Con) My Lords— Noble Lords Hear, hear!...Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to
revisit the inclusion of cannabis in Schedule 2 to the
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, in the light of claims regarding
its medicinal significance.
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(Con)
My Lords—
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Noble Lords
Hear, hear!
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This is a bit like “Mastermind”, but on somebody else’s
specialist subjects.
The World Health Organization’s Expert Committee on Drug
Dependence has committed to reviewing the scheduling of
cannabis under the United Nations 1961 convention. This is
due to consider the therapeutic use as well as dependence
and the potential to abuse constituent parts of cannabis.
This will be a key report to inform the Government’s
position on this issue, which, as with any government
policy, we will keep under review.
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(CB)
My Lords, when most of the western world recognises that
cannabis has significant medicinal value, and when Germany
recently legalised cannabis for no fewer than 57
indications, in the UK, which remains miles behind
everybody else, we have cannabis in Schedule 1 and
therefore defined as a dangerous drug with no—I underline
no—medicinal value. Will the Minister work with his
colleagues to bring this issue forward as a matter of
urgency rather than waiting years for the WHO report—I know
the WHO somewhat and it takes a little time? That would
save the incredible suffering—I have met so many people
suffering deeply—of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of
thousands, of people up and down the country.
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The noble Baroness is a long-standing campaigner for drugs
reform. I listened to her exchange a few days ago with my
noble friend Lady Williams on this very subject. When I saw
officials last week, I pressed them hard on the medical
advice. The professional advice of medical experts in this
country is that cannabis in its raw form has no medicinal
value, which is why it is a Schedule 1 drug and subject to
strict controls. I am very reluctant as a layman to
second-guess those officials. However, the noble Baroness
referred last time to the moving case of Alfie Dingley. The
Home Office will do all it can within the framework of the
current legislation to ensure that Alfie gets the treatment
he needs
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(Lab)
My Lords, some 15 years ago, the Science and Technology
Select Committee of which I was chairman at the time had a
six-month inquiry on the medicinal uses of cannabis. We
found and reported overwhelming evidence of the value of
cannabis, that people taking cannabis did not get high on
these drugs and that they were not dependent on the drug
but it eased their symptoms, particularly with neurological
conditions. As a result, we got at least one drug licensed
for market. I absolutely agree with the noble Baroness that
there is great urgency. It is 15 years, and it is about
time the Government did something about this.
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I will report back to the Home Office the strong views
expressed by two noble Lords—I gather they are impatient
and not anxious to wait for the outcome of the WHO review,
which I think will be completed in 2019. Any decision will
be evidence based. On the general use of cannabis, I note
that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs said in
its last report that,
“cannabis is a significant public health issue. Cannabis
can unquestionably cause harm to individuals and society”.
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(LD)
My Lords, I welcome the Minister’s acceptance that perhaps
it should be a Health Minister standing at the Dispatch
Box. Even so, is he aware that doctors in the UK are
allowed to prescribe heroin to addicts in certain
circumstances? How does he square that with the fact that
they are not permitted to prescribe most effective cannabis
medicines to patients in pain, even though these are
available legally in many other countries? Is it not time
that we stopped criminalising patients?
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On the specific issue the noble Baroness raises, the Home
Office would consider issuing a licence to enable trials of
any new medicines, including cannabis, subject to
appropriate ethical approvals. There is the possibility of
a specific licence in the case that the noble Baroness
raised and if necessary the normal 12 to 16-week timetable
could be expedited.
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(Lab)
My Lords, will the Minister encourage his ministerial
colleagues in the Home Office to review the present policy of
the department in relation to patients who have been
prescribed dronabinol, the active ingredient in various
pharmaceutical cannabinoid preparations, which requires that
they travel abroad to obtain it, even though dronabinol is in
Schedule 2 and is internationally recognised as having
medicinal value? Why do the Government not allow these
patients, who if they do not have their cannabis-based
medication suffer chronic and severe pain, to collect their
prescription from a local pharmacy instead of forcing them to
make this exhausting and costly journey every three months?
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I am very happy to respond to the noble Lord’s opening
question, namely to pass his request on. We are guided in
this country by the MHRA, the authority that advises
government on whether medicines should have a licence.
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(Lab
Co-op)
My Lords, we have a vast number of drugs that are strictly
controlled and regulated here in the UK. I have no wish to
change the law in respect of the general use of cannabis but
I think the noble Lord has heard from around the House that
the Government should surely move on it with a bit more speed
and look at whether there is a genuine case for the medical
use of this drug. I have no idea what the answer is; I will
listen to the medical professionals on that matter.
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I agree with the noble Lord’s last sentence, that he will
listen to the medical evidence. I say to noble Lords that I
have listened to the exchanges over the last seven minutes
and there is a clear view that we should try to make
progress, not on legalising cannabis but on making it easier
to prescribe cannabis in certain circumstances where it may
have some therapeutic or beneficial value. I am very happy to
take that message back to the Home Office and I hope that,
next time, somebody more qualified than myself will be able
to answer these questions.
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