“This is very
disappointing for the
tens of thousands of
patients and carers
having to break the
law every day to obtain
black market medical
cannabis”
- Drug Science founder
Professor David Nutt
but to make these products more widespread
on the NHS we would need more rigorous
controlled trials or observational studies that can
support clinicians and give them the confidence
when talking to patients about what’s right to
them.”
While trials have supported the development of
medicines such as CBD drug epidiolex, Deacon
argued that ‘you cannot pharmaceuticalise’ the
plant.
Instead, she said the medical community should
develop an understanding of how the plant
works as a whole to see its potential benefits.
“It will not be put into medicines. It will never be
as effective as the plant and unfortunately, until
you understand how cannabis works and what it
is, we are not going to move forward and I think
that is extremely sad and patients will suffer.”
Meanwhile, Drug Science has launched its own
medical cannabis research project.
The team will study the lives and experiences
of 20,000 cannabis patients to document the
‘efficacy of such medicines, their safety and
patient reported outcomes.’
gone from having as many as 500 seizures a
month to being 11 months seizure-free.
However, she was keen to point out that
cannabis was not a medical cure-all, adding:
“Since he’s had a prescription of cannabis oil on
the NHS, he’s thrived. He’s not cured, he’s had
seizures still.
“This is not about saying this is a cure. This is
about giving children like my son with very
serious refractory epilepsy, which will kill you, the
best quality of life.”
A refractory condition is one that has not
responded to conventional treatment.
Deacon noted that ‘many hundreds of
thousands’ of UK children are given unlicensed
and unregulated medicines each year that are
only backed by anecdotal evidence. However,
cannabis is still not being readily prescribed.
Instead, families have been forced to spend
thousands of pounds a month on private
prescriptions.
Dr Chrisp said that doctors were free to prescribe
cannabis but that more studies were needed:
“We understand that some people do benefit