– but there is further to go
People with serious medical conditions will be able to have access to cannabis-based medicines, following the success of campaigns to legalise the drug for medicinal purposes.
Welcoming the news, the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner for County Durham and Darlington, Ron Hogg, said “I am delighted that the Government has finally seen sense and agreed to allow cannabis to be used to treat conditions such as epilepsy. The stories of children suffering, when cannabis-based medicines would have helped them, will have touched the hearts of many.”
For the first time in the UK, expert doctors have been given the option to issue prescriptions legally for cannabis-based medicines, when they agree that their patients could benefit from this treatment. The change was confirmed recently and comes into effect on 1st November.
Ron Hogg added “I think the public mood towards drug policy reform is changing. The medical benefits of cannabis have been accepted. Now is the time for health to become the focus of wider Government policies towards drugs. If people are able to go to their GP for help with an addiction without fear of being criminalised, they would be much more likely to receive the medical support they need.”
