July 19, 2018

expert reaction to ACMD letter to the Home Office setting out its short-term advice on the scheduling of Cannabis-derived medicinal products

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has written to the Home Office detailing their short-term advice on the scheduling of cannabis-derived medicinal products.

Dr Amir Englund, Post-doctoral researcher in Psychopharmacology, Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, said:

“Following the review by Professor Sally Davies, the ACMD has come to the same logical and scientific conclusion: that cannabis has no place in Schedule 1. Removing cannabis from Schedule 1 will ease restrictions on research so that we can better understand what medical benefits cannabis has and has not.

“Also, it will give patients suffering from debilitating conditions, where conventional treatments have failed, an additional chance at relieving symptoms.

“An important point the ACMD has raised is that of the quality of the cannabis being prescribed. Only cannabis with certified medical quality should be considered, so that patients do not come to harm from unregulated products which contain contaminants, or from a product with unknown levels of its active compounds.”

Mr Ian Hamilton, Lecturer in Mental Health, University of York, said:

“This seems like an overly cautious move from the Governments scientific advisers as this places cannabis in the same schedule as diamorphine, clearly cannabis preparations do not carry the same risk as morphine. The ACMD also seem to be overly concerned about the potential for diversion of medicinal cannabis products.

“I agree with the ACMD that ‘cannabis-derived medicinal preparations’ are poorly defined, so it is good that they have suggested to the Home Office that a clearer definition is needed but this will also delay access to medicinal cannabis products for patients.

“Many people who were hoping that they would be able to use cannabis for their health problems will be very disappointed by this announcement.”

* https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727333/ACMD_advice_on_scheduling_of_cannabis_derived_medicinal_products.pdf

All our previous output on this subject can be seen at this weblink:
http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/tag/cannabis/

Declared interests

Dr Amir Englund: “Amir Englund is a post-doctoral researcher at the IoPPN King’s College London who has previously worked on KCL studies in collaboration with GW Pharmaceuticals and has received a speakers fee from Lundbeck.”

Mr Ian Hamilton: “No conflicts.”