The review process will take place in two parts and will be led jointly by the Home Office and Department of Health and Social Care. Part one of the commission considered the evidence available for the medicinal and therapeutic benefits of cannabis-based products. This was led by the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sally Davies. Part two is being led by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).

The ACMD will not reassess the evidence issued by the Chief Medical Officer but will provide an assessment, based on the balance of harms and public health needs, of what, if anything, should be rescheduled under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.

In the interim, as the Policing Minister announced on 18 June, we have established an Expert Panel of clinicians to advise Ministers on any applications to prescribe cannabis-based products. The panel will be chaired by the Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland, Dr Michael McBride. While the wider review takes place, the panel will provide a route for specialist clinicians to prescribe cannabis-based products in exceptional circumstances. It is centred on evidence-based advice led by clinical experts in order to ensure the safety of any patient. Since 27 June any licence applications to use cannabis-based products as part of treatment outside a clinical trial will be handled through this new process until the conclusion and implementation of the recommendations from the review.

Home Office