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Two cannabis-based medicines have been recommended for use on the NHS in a move that will help thousands of people with chronic illnesses.

Epidyolex has been approved for two rare types of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes, while the spray Sativex has been recommended for muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Around 8,0000 to 9,000 people in the UK suffer Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes.

Charities welcomed the move, but said thousands of other people who could benefit from other cannabis-based medicines were left in limbo.

It is thought up to 1.4 million people use cannabis for deadly conditions and chronic pain in the UK.

A change in the law in 2018 made it legal for doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis.

However, many doctors have been reluctant to do so, citing a lack of clear guidance on prescribing and issues over funding for the drugs.

Epileptic teenager Billy Caldwell, 13, whose case helped to legalise medical cannabis a year ago, is still fighting for access to a cannabis drug to help stop the 300 potentially lethal seizures he suffers a day.

Billy’s mum Charlotte, of Castlederg, Co Tyrone, is taking to the NHS to court over their refusal to pay the £2,000 a-month prescription for a Canadian cannabis drug.

Up until now Billy, 13, has relied on the manufacturer Aurora giving it free.

Speaking before a legal challenge to be heard in Northern Ireland on Friday, she said: “Aurora Cannabis has kindly gifted Billy his medicine while we are going through the legal process.

“This is unsustainable. I can’t even begin to dwell on the consequences of losing this case. Without this medication, Billy will only regress and his short life will once more be on the line.”

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The new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) looked at cannabis-based products for several conditions.

It found a lack of evidence regarding their use in the management of chronic pain and said people with chronic pain should not be prescribed drugs containing THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) - the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

It also said more research was needed on cannabis-based medicines to treat forms of epilepsy other than Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet.

Millie Hinton, from the campaign End Our Pain, said the guidelines were “a massive missed opportunity” to prescribe medical cannabis for thousands of people with a range of conditions.

“It is this kind of whole plant extract that has been shown to be life-transforming for a significant number of children, including these involved in the high-profile cases of last year which led to medical cannabis being legalised.

“A number of the families that we represent met senior Nice representatives in person only a few weeks ago.

“They explained first-hand that they were paying thousands of pounds every month for private prescriptions of whole plant extract medical cannabis and that their children were showing dramatic reductions in seizure rates and equally dramatic improvements in quality of life.”

Nice also recommended Sativex to treat muscle spasms in MS, a common symptom of the disease.

Genevieve Edwards, director of external affairs at the MS Society, said: “We’ve been campaigning for access to Sativex for years, and it’s brilliant Nice has finally listened.

“These guidelines are an important first step, but don’t go far enough. No cannabis-based treatments have been recommended to treat pain, a common symptom of MS.

“Additionally, because Sativex will be funded by local bodies - who might not have the resource they need to prescribe it - even more people could miss out.”

She said evidence shows cannabis-based treatments could help around 10,000 people with MS get relief from pain and spasms when other treatments have not worked.