Reigate MP Crispin Blunt calls for medicinal cannabis rethink  

Clifford Lee insists medicinal cannabis improves his quality of life

REIGATE MP Crispin Blunt has supported calls for a review into medicinal marijuana, labelling the current situation "absurd".

Mr Blunt's intervention comes after a letter was sent last week to the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, by Minister for Crime Prevention Norman Baker, calling for a review into the Government's policy on the drug.

Marijuana is a controlled substance, but manufacturers can develop cannabis-based medicines under licence from the Home Office.

For example, Sativex, which contains the drug, is authorised for use in the UK for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

Mr Baker, a Liberal Democrat, wrote: "I have seen more and more evidence that cannabis can provide genuine medical benefits to treat a number of conditions.

"There is a growing body of research that shows the medical properties of chemical components of cannabis. We should seriously consider whether it is valuable to treat conditions such as MS, glaucoma, chronic and neurogenic pain and the side effects from chemotherapy and HIV/AIDS treatments.

"I am uncomfortable that there are credible people I have met who tell me that cannabis is the only substance that helps relieve their condition, but not only are they stopped from accessing it officially but have to break the law to help their health.

"Other countries recognise that cannabis does have medicinal benefit and we need to look again at this to help people who are ill. This is a quite separate matter from the recreational use of cannabis which is not at issue here."

Following a letter from constituent Clifford Lee and Mr Baker's plea, Crispin Blunt has also implored the Government to seriously consider a revision of its medicinal marijuana policy.

In a statement he criticised the Government for its refusal to engage with the issue from an evidence-led perspective and added: "Sativex, the first cannabis derivative available in the UK, has been shown to reduce MS spasticity by up to 30 per cent in three quarters of patients. Nevertheless it is only accessible, as my constituents have found to their expense, via a frankly byzantine prescription process.

"However, it is not accessible at all for spasticity due to stroke, which is completely absurd as it has been found to work in a similar way to spasticity from MS in the USA. I have a constituent who continues to suffer from this stupidity, on whose behalf I want this fixed."

But the Home Office has already ruled out any chance of revising the regulations.

Emma Tilley, spokeswoman for the Home Office, said: "This Government has no plans to legalise cannabis or to soften our approach to its use as a medicine.

"There is clear scientific and medical evidence that cannabis is a harmful drug which can damage people's mental and physical health. There has been a long-term downward trend in drug use over the last decade.

"Drug-related deaths in England and Wales have continued to fall during the past three years and people going into treatment today are more likely to free themselves from dependency than ever before."

http://www.surreymirror.co.uk/Blunt-calls-medicinal-cannabis-rethink/story-22791109-detail/story.html 24/08/2014