On June 26th 2019, the Irish government announced its plans for a five year medical cannabis access pilot programme.

What will this mean, in practice, for people living in Ireland, and how does the policy compare to Ireland’s neighbouring European countries?

Although now based in central London, Hanway Associates has strong roots in Ireland. Co-founders Alastair Moore and George McBride are both proud Irishmen and are pleased that cannabis reform is finally evolving in Ireland. Thinking back to the company’s beginnings, CCO Alastair Moore recalls, “the idea behind Cannabis Europa was actually forged when George and I ran the Global Medical Cannabis Summit in Smock Alley Theatre Dublin in 2016.”

George McBride, Hanway Associates CEO said:

“We welcome this move by the Irish government, which will no doubt improve access to life-changing medication for patients and allow the import of high quality medical cannabis from abroad. I expect cannabis reform will take hold in Ireland faster than most people expect, following other positive social reforms in Ireland, such as marriage equality and legal abortion. We are proud that Ireland is moving in the right direction.”

Five Year Pilot Programme

The legislature signed by Minister for Health Simon Harris TD will allow for the prescription of medical cannabis by medical consultants, of medication produced by suppliers that meet specific requirements specified by the legislation. Under the programme it must be prescribed by a consultant, and only for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, nausea related to chemotherapy and severe cases of epilepsy.

Previous to this, GW Pharmaceuticals’ Sativex was technically legal in Ireland, but inaccessible. After the first licence for medical cannabis was issued in December 2016, for a two-year-old boy with Dravets syndrome, a small number of licences for individual patients who wished to be prescribed cannabis-based products containing THC were issued. In order to obtain a license to prescribe the medications Irish medical practitioners had to make detailed applications to the Minister of Health, limiting access to the point where only a handful of patients had their medicines approved.

While the scope of this pilot programme is still limited, considering the wide range of conditions cannabis is prescribed for in other jurisdictions, this move should work to open up access for many who were unable to access the medicine under the prior rules.

In a statement, Minister Harris said: