# No new NHS patients prescribed cannabis oil since legalisation



## Northerner (Jul 2, 2020)

There have been no new NHS prescriptions for full-extract cannabis oil since the medicinal use of the drug was legalised more than 18 months ago, the Guardian has established.

Wealthier families and those who can successfully raise funds pay about £2,000 a month to access full-leaf cannabis medicines via private prescription for children with rare forms of treatment-resistant epilepsy, while poorer parents are unable to afford the prescriptions.

Experts say that, despite the drug’s legality, rigid prescribing guidelines for doctors set by the British Paediatric Neurological Association – which cite a lack of clinical research and reference disputed theories about the mental health effects of cannabis – make getting hold of the medicine on the NHS difficult in practice.

A freedom of information (FoI) request to the NHS business services authority confirmed there were no new prescriptions for the oil in England between its legalisation and the end of February. There is understood to have been no change since.









						No new NHS patients prescribed cannabis oil since legalisation
					

Mother of Alfie Dingley says parents are despondent at lack of access to full-extract oil




					www.theguardian.com


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## grovesy (Jul 2, 2020)

This does not surprise me.


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## atoll (Jul 2, 2020)

i guess most people are "just rolling their own" or adding it to camomile tea


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## Robin (Jul 2, 2020)

atoll said:


> i guess most people are "just rolling their own" or adding it to camomile tea


I don’t think you’d do that with a child!


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## atoll (Jul 2, 2020)

Robin said:


> I don’t think you’d do that with a child!


easyist place to buy it was just outside the school gates,when i asked my kids where to buy some for my aches and pains


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## mikeyB (Jul 2, 2020)

Well, I’m not sure it’s necessary. I know I’m just an individual with a neurological problem, but I’ve lately been seriously troubled by spasticity in my legs which means I can’t straighten them in bed. Also, waking in the morning my legs have been fixed in a flexed position, and it is extremely painful trying to get them straight to get out out of bed.

In another thread I mentioned that the neurological consultant had suggested Baclofen, which has a long list of side effects. I said to her I’ll take it if my plan to use higher strength CBD oil (cannabis without the THC) didn’t work.

Well, I’ve been doing that, taking it first thing, mid afternoon and night. Started this Monday past. Now, I can sleep undisturbed with straight legs, still wake with flexed legs, but a dose of CBD drops works in less than a minute to free things up. My legs can move more freely, and walking with two crutches is much more comfortable.

It’s the cannabinoids that work, not the THC, which is just one of many. This whole row could be finished by trialling CBD oil on prescription.

There’s no need for me to be blissed out on full bore cannabis medication, or have my brain addled with Baclofen.

I’ll be passing this info on to my consultant.


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## Thebearcametoo (Jul 2, 2020)

That’s a great result @mikeyB 
My understanding is that OTC brands vary widely in their potency so more clarity in labelling and some more research would be welcome there. When dealing with children it can often be difficult giving the OTC supplements so it would be better to have more options available on prescription.
There also needs to be care when giving CBD with other meds. I seem to recall it not being a good mix with one of my meds when I looked into it briefly.


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## mikeyB (Jul 2, 2020)

I get my CBD oil from Healthspan, which is where I get my VitD3. There are many sources of supply on the Internet, none of which I would trust in quality control. It’s made in Germany, apparently.

I don’t know about interacting with my other meds. Couldn’t see anything online, but it’s only a theoretical issue anyway.

Healthspan, incidentally, lists CBD oil in their dietary supplements!


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## Robin (Jul 2, 2020)

atoll said:


> easyist place to buy it was just outside the school gates,when i asked my kids where to buy some for my aches and pains


I’m not talking availability, I’m talking unknown quality and strength. I wouldn’t give a child with a headache a couple of brand/type unknown adult pain killers I happened to have lying around the house, so why would I risk it with cannabis?


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## atoll (Jul 2, 2020)

Robin said:


> I’m not talking availability, I’m talking unknown quality and strength. I wouldn’t give a child with a headache a couple of brand/type unknown adult pain killers I happened to have lying around the house, so why would I risk it with cannabis?


doctors obviously think the same if they are not prescribing it,another fad wonder drug that might have uses,but nobody is actually sure what they are,or what the long term side effects might be.


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## Robin (Jul 2, 2020)

atoll said:


> doctors obviously think the same if they are not prescribing it,another fad wonder drug that might have uses,but nobody is actually sure what they are,or what the long term side effects might be.


I'm not sure what you mean by 'doctors obviously think the same' It sounds like you mean, not wanting to prescribe an unregulated, untested substance off the street? The thread is about prescribing the pharmaceutical product manufactured and tested under strict  standards. So whether doctors prescribe or not has nothing to do with the quality control of the drug.


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## mikeyB (Jul 2, 2020)

All this row about the effects on the brain is utter balderdash. I’ll tell you why. As I stated in my post above, CBD oil has alleviated my symptoms to a significant degree. I’ve got PLS, which is a disease originating in the brain. So where is the perfectly legal CBD oil having its effect? No fuss about that, is there?

And speaking personally I couldn’t give a toss about long term side effects. How long a term I have is rather open to luck.


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## WandaOliver (Oct 7, 2020)

I think in this case, it's better not to use anything at all, then to use it. I didn't try CBD and I don't want to, because I prefer natural products. I'm thinking about my own little "garden" with marijuana in the future, but now I buy it online, if you don't know how to do it, I recommend you to read the article "21 to buy weed in D.C". It looks like a weed, taste like a weed, smells like a weed, it actually IS a weed Laughing Better then CBD oil. Because it's natural. That's my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong, but if the people sell CBD which smell like hay, I'll ratter smoke the good weed.


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## trophywench (Oct 8, 2020)

Yes, possibly, but considering @mikeyB used to be a GP, personally I trust him to manage his own medication.


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## mikeyB (Oct 8, 2020)

Well, it doesn’t give me a dry mouth. In fact, there is no pharmalogic possibility of it causing such a symptom. Nor does it make me drowsy, because it has no sedative effect. Doesn’t give me diarrhoea either. And CBD can’t interfere with other medications because it only has any effect on cannabinoid receptors in the body, which no other medication does. Full fat cannabis gives you the munchies, so it would be positively bizarre if CBD oil had the opposite effect. The dose, four drops of oil under the tongue, couldn’t have much if any effect on blood thinners.

All the symptoms you mention are some of the commonest reaction to placebos in trials, as it happens.

The £2000 cost per month to the NHS is a rip off profiteering price, for sure. It’s actually quite bitter, Healthspan mask this with mint. Wimps.


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## Drummer (Oct 8, 2020)

The botanic name is cannabis sativas - indicating that it is a medicinal plant known of for some time.
It is actually a most useful plant, and the canvas sails which drove ships around the world were made of canvas, as were the ropes which hoisted and controlled them.
If not for the American steel industrialists demonizing it, we would be driving cars with bodies made from resins reinforced with hemp fibres, and probably wearing canvas clothing rather than cotton.
Thanks to the law many of the long established medicinal strains of the plant were destroyed, so losing all those centuries of cultivation.


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