By Chris Bovey

Tens of thousands of patients will not get anywhere near legal medical cannabis, despite celebrations from Tory funded cannabis pressure groups.

The changes to the law, which came into place at the beginning of the month were even described by Tory MP, Sir Mike Pennington, as “cruel and botched”.

The former Conservative Drugs Minister lambasted the British Paediatric Neurology Association (BPNA) and Royal College of Physicians (RCP) guidance as “crushing the hopes of many thousands of patients”.

“Those responsible for this botched and cruel outcome should hang their heads in shame,” he said.

You know something is fucked up when a Tory MP describes something as cruel.

Labour MP, Tonia Antoniazzi, who co-chairs the all-party parliamentary group on medicinal cannabis along with Sir Mike also agreed with him saying she was: “outraged and dumbfounded in equal measure”.

“Guidance and associated recommendations have effectively shut down the policy, crushing the hopes of many thousands of patients and their families.

“We are now in the quite frankly cruel and ludicrous position of families with severely epileptic children once again having to fundraise to go abroad to get access to a medicine that we have just legalised in the UK. Something has gone very wrong here.”

Hopes crushed

As previously reported by Feed The Birds, cannabis-derived products currently available under private prescription will no longer be able to be prescribed, they will go back to square one with a specialist/consultant to prove that nothing else works before they can get another prescription for a cannabis product, with no guarantee the NHS will fund it.

The law change means specialists can prescribe cannabis medicines for a small number of patients, where their needs are not met by conventional drugs and there is evidence of benefit, but not by a GP.

Big Pharma profits

According to Sky News and other news agencies, it was quoted: “Medicinal cannabis expert Professor Mike Barnes said specialists will not prescribe the drugs because of Royal College of Physicians (RCP) advice stating there is no strong evidence cannabis can help with chronic pain.”

We know certain Tories have a disdain for experts, but they really should not be taking advice from any organisation that believes there is no strong evidence cannabis can help with chronic pain.

Whether the RCP actually believe the bullshit they are putting out or they are trying to protect the profits of pharmaceutical companies who stand to lose money if people are allowed to be prescribed or grow their own much cheaper and more effective cannabis medicines, which are not addictive like prescription opiates, I do not know.

The new regulations have left uncertainty for the parents of epileptic kids who were granted a temporary license which has now expired. They may be forced to go back to The Netherlands so they can continue cannabis oil treatment that vastly reduces their children with rare forms of epilepsy from having potentially fatal seizures.

Dodgy connections

GW Pharmaceuticals, which has dodgy connections to the Prime Minister’s family and also her that of her Drugs Minister, Victoria Atkins, will be one of the few companies permitted to produce legal cannabis-derived products which will be sold to the NHS at grossly inflated prices, while this might help a small number of people who are able to jump through the hoops of fire to get a prescription, the majority of medical cannabis consumers will still face being arrested, fined or even imprisoned, if they dare to grow their own medicine or source it on the black market, because they don’t want to be in pain.

The husbands of Theresa May and Victoria Atkins who stand to make a fortune selling their over-priced monopoly products to the NHS are almost certainly celebrating the new laws. These Tories don’t care about people in pain, they only smell the cash, I hope those who have applauded the government soon wake up and smell the coffee.