Question reference: S6W-02813
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 9 September 2021
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to improve (a) confidence in medicinal cannabinoids among clinicians prescribing treatments for chronic pain and (b) the availability and affordability of medicinal cannabis in Scotland.
Answer
The vast majority of medicinal cannabis products remain unlicensed with a limited, or non-existent, peer-reviewed clinical evidence base. Under the current rules, only specialist doctors on the General Medical Council’s specialist register can prescribe cannabis-based products where there is clear published evidence of benefit. We are encouraging companies to participate in clinical trials so that these products can be tested for quality, safety and efficacy and brought forward for approval through the medicine regulatory and health technology assessments processes. This will enable these products to be readily available through the NHS – provided they met the clinical safety requirements for licencing and the clinical and cost effectiveness approval for routine use in the NHS.