After Canada’s legalization of recreational cannabis earlier this month, another country is making legal changes of a different kind. According to The Independent, the UK has approved medical cannabis for use with a physicians’ prescription. Cannabis-derived medical products will be available “in the autumn” sometime but, other forms of cannabis will remain illegal.
This comes after the Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Dame Sally Davies, urged the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to legalize medicinal cannabis and allow patients with certain conditions to be allowed access to the drugs.
Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, noted that the change in legislation was a result of numerous stories of citizens encountering issues bringing cannabis back to the UK for medicinal reasons. This statement was made by Javid:
“Following advice from two sets of independent advisors, I have taken the decision to reschedule cannabis-derived medicinal products – meaning they will be available on prescription…Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory.”
The country, however, has no current plans to push for recreational-use cannabis.
Source: The Independent
Written by: Joycelin Arnold
