Although specialist doctors registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) have been allowed to prescribe cannabis-derived medicines since November 2018, a lack of research into their effects is leaving patients open to buying unlicensed products, sometimes containing over 400 times the legal limit of certain key ingredients.
Leading scientists and clinicians from the University of Bath and University College London (UCL) recently published a review that describes the ranges of cannabis-derived products available and highlights the need for more information to better educate clinicians and patients about the medicinal properties of these products and their effects on the body.
Lead author of the study Dr. Tom Freeman, from the University of Bath’s Addiction and Mental Health Group explained:
In this complex and rapidly evolving field, there are several different cannabis-based and cannabinoid medicinal products. These differ in their THC and CBD content, who can prescribe them, and the conditions they may be used to treat. Here we provide an update for clinicians in advance of forthcoming NICE guidelines.”
