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The original was posted on /r/worldnews by /u/OregonTripleBeam on 2024-07-13 13:52:42+00:00.
Cannabis clinics see rise in patients
Submitted 2 years ago by bot@lemmit.online [bot] to worldnews@lemmit.online
autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] 2 years ago
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In a statement, the Department for Health and Social Care said that “licensed cannabis-based medicines are routinely funded by the NHS where there is clear evidence of their quality, safety and effectiveness”.But it added that “most products on the market are unlicensed medicines, and clinical guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) demonstrate a clear need for more research to support routine prescribing and funding decisions on the NHS”.
One patient taking the drug for chronic pain is Julie Gould, from Wimbledon in south London.The 64-year-old started using medical cannabis in 2020 after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in her 30s.“I’ve got permanent damage.
I haven’t slept for two days and I really can’t cope with this.“I remember bursting into tears in front of her and she looked at me and said, ‘as we get older we all get aches and pains’.”Ms Gould started taking medical cannabis oil after getting a prescription through a private clinic and says it “instantly stops” the nerve pain she experiences.“In my view, it’s just a miraculous drug,” she says, adding that it helped her through withdrawals after she was put on a new medication for her RLS.She now only uses the medicine occasionally, but is concerned about how she would afford it if her symptoms got worse.“In 2020, 100ml of the oil I used cost about £150 - now that same 100ml is £350,” she says.
Sativex, a cannabis-based spray used to treat MS muscle spasms, is licensed for prescription on the NHS, but the MS Society says there is an “unacceptable postcode lottery” for the drug.NHS England says it already offers several cannabis-based treatments that have been approved by the MHRA but “many doctors and professional bodies rightly remain concerned about the limited evidence available concerning the safety and efficacy of unlicensed products”.In a statement, it said "manufacturers are encouraged to engage with the UK medicines licensing process, which can help provide specialist doctors with the confidence to use the products, in the same way they use any other licensed medicines that are recommended for use on the NHS.”
The UK medical cannabis market is the second largest in Europe and is expected to be worth £300m in 2025, according to market researchers Prohibition Partners.Prof Lynskey says it is “unfortunate” that some people are “excluded” due to the cost of cannabis from private clinics, especially as many of those living with chronic conditions are “not working or not working full time and struggling financially”.Even if the drug is made more accessible on the NHS, he says that attitudes towards medical cannabis may take longer to change.“There’s still a lot of stigma in the general population against it and that includes actually a lot of doctors, who either don’t know it’s legal or don’t believe it should be,” Prof Lynskey says.
It costs £60 a session and a further £80 to £180 for the supply of medical cannabis oil.“I’m very lucky I am able to afford this, I’m in a good job, but there will be many people who really struggle to pay for it,” he told the BBC.Stephen is among a growing number of people who are turning to medical cannabis to treat their mental health.The T21 Project says that 42% of patients on the programme take the medicine for psychiatric conditions - making them the second largest group behind chronic pain patients.
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