UK to Legalize Medicinal Cannabis

Patients will be able to access the drug with a prescription, and there are no plans to allow for recreational use.

Written byCatherine Offord
| 2 min read
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Doctors in the UK will be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis to patients starting in the fall of this year, according to a government announcement made yesterday (July 26). The move follows national debate over high-profile cases in which children with severe epilepsy were first denied, then allowed access to cannabis oil shown to ease the symptoms of the condition.

“Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory,” Interior Minister Sajid Javid told reporters yesterday, according to Reuters. “Following advice from two sets of independent advisers, I have taken the decision to reschedule cannabis-derived medicinal products—meaning they will be available on prescription.”

Until now, cannabis has been considered a Schedule 1 substance, a legal classification that means the plant can be used by researchers with a license, but is not thought to have any therapeutic value. Yesterday’s announcement ...

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Meet the Author

  • After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.

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