But if CBD is so widely available
and far cheaper to obtain, why
not simply obtain it on the high
street?
Dr Mathew explains that it’s a matter
of safety and consistency that you
only get with a medicinal product.
“No one actually knows what’s in
high street CBD. I’m seeing patients
saying, ‘this one has given me a
stomach ulcer’ and that rings alarm
bells. Who knows what’s in it?
“If a patient has an allergy to a certain
kind of oil, we know and can give a
prescription that doesn’t have that oil
in it.”
Medical cannabis remains diffi cult
to physically obtain, even outside
the confi nes of the NHS. The clinic’s
pharmacist has to pick up the
medication from Amsterdam. It is
then delivered to the patient within a
few weeks.
The clinic recommends that patients
prescribed raw fl ower vape it for
maximum bioavailability. If they
are unsure how to use a vape, they
are given a demonstration and
recommend a device.
After that, it’s a matter of trialling the
prescription for one-to-three months,
booking a follow-up appointment
to confi rm that the medication is
working and then being discharged
and continue to get their prescription
from the pharmacy.
Dr Mathew hopes that it will be easier
for doctors and patients to access
medical cannabis as more evidence
of its effi cacy and safety comes to
light.
He notes that public perceptions are
changing, not just due to high-profi le
cases in the UK but also increased
awareness of models in countries that
have more well-established medical
cannabis programmes.
“In Canada, they have opened shops
where you can pick a unique formula
of taste, fl avour and so on. It will get to
that stage, but the UK has had such
bad press that it will take a while to
change.
“People have been using cannabis
off-license without a prescription, so
we have a huge database and the
studies have been done from using
it on the street, so we don’t need the
“When you dive into the research and
look at receptors and pharmacological
reactions, you understand that there is
a use for this medication.”
typical clinical trial process. But we
do need exact science of what we’re
getting and what we’re prescribing.”
Medical Cannabis Clinics
Patient, Male, 26.*
“My original diagnosis was low mood
and anxiety/depression. I came in
today because I’ve not been able to
deal with it myself or manage things
lately. Luckily, I got a new diagnosis
of emotionally unstable personality
disorder, which has helped clear up a
lot of things.”
“I went through a bad episode of
negative things happening while at
uni. My friend recommended that
I try cannabis and I did a bunch of
research before I tried it and I found
that it helped, at least whenever I was
able to fi nd the right version of it on
the street. CBD helped me a lot with
managing the extremes of emotion.
“My parents found out at that I’d
been using cannabis, had a proper
sit-down, and I told them it had
essentially been a miracle because I
hadn’t found any other treatment or
any other support that would work
majorly. Therapy at uni did help but
once that stopped, all the progress
that I’d made got reversed. Cannabis
didn’t cure everything, but it helped
stabilise it. My parents wanted me to
go through the legal avenues, so my
dad got things sorted with the clinic
and it’s been exceptionally good. I’ve
actually been able to address things
that I hadn’t been able to talk about
for more or less a decade now.”
“I came here today and the doctor
didn’t just immediately give me the
medication. He went through the full
diagnosis process, fi nding out the
symptoms and past drug and alcohol
use. I found that with some GPs, they
just throw medication at you. But the
doctor suggested a combination of
talking therapy/CBT as well as mood
stabilisers. It wasn’t just jumping
straight into ‘shall we use cannabis as
the cure for everything and fi x it?’, but
‘what will actually work to address the
broader issue.’’’
*In the interest of doctor-patient
confi dentiality, this gentleman’s name
cannot be published.
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