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A medical cannabis clinic opened its doors to customers in Solihull last month.

Solihull Health Check Clinic, a new clinic, started treating patients in January.

Patients at the Dickens Heath clinic can expect to pay £250 for an initial consultation with follow-up appointments costing £150 - with patients able to book an appointment via The Medical Cannabis Clinics.

According to BirminghamLive, these follow-up appointments take place three weeks later, and then once per month for three months after receiving the medication.

According to the clinic, if treatment is going well, follow-up appointments can be arranged via telephone consultation at £50.

'Exploring benefits of cannabis right thing to do'

Elie Okirie is a Neurorehabilitation Consultant at the facility, which is part of The Medical Cannabis Clinics.

He said: "In my practice, I see patients who are very disabled, who may have tried different treatments from acute specialists over many years.

"They are trying to live a normal life and make sense of everyday living with their condition, yet they are living with chronic pain.

"They don’t sleep well at night, they have spasms and spasticity, and they suffer all the complications that come with their condition. They are hugely impacted by the opioid medication they are being prescribed, but still, their symptoms are not being alleviated."

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She added: "Exploring the benefits of medical cannabis is the right thing to do.

"From my perspective, I see the evidence in respect of cannabis as a treatment, and how the endocannabinoid system responds to it.

"It’s one more thing in the armoury of treatment options we can try for patients suffering intractable, long-term disabilities and disabling conditions. ”

Jonathan Nadler, Group MD at LYPHE Group said : ‘The Medical Cannabis Clinics are delighted to be opening a branch in Solihull as we recognise the urgent need for effective therapeutic treatment options for patients suffering from chronic conditions throughout Birmingham.

"Our doctors are not afraid to exercise their knowledge and expertise to write medical cannabis prescriptions for patients who need it, so we look forward to helping those who previously felt like they had no other treatment options available in this area.’"

What is medicinal cannabis?

Medicinal cannabis was legalised in November 2018 but the treatments can be prescribed only by specialist doctors in a limited number of circumstances where other medicines have failed.

The launch comes following the release of a YouGov poll detailing how 1.4 million British citizens are resorting to using cannabis illegally in an attempt to treat conditions and symptoms including multiple sclerosis and arthritis.

Last year the plight of Warwickshire boy Alfie Dingley caught the attention of the then Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

Alfie once suffered 500 seizures every month and was admitted to hospital 48 times per year as a result of his severe epilepsy.

His mum, Hannah Deacon, battled for Alfie to be granted cannabis oil drug to treat him. In November, and, after intense campaigning by a handful of parents, the Government moved to legalise cannabis-derived medication, by allowing specialists to prescribe it on a case-by-case basis.

Find out more about Medical Cannabis Clinics here.