Access to Medical Cannabis Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Jeff Smith
Main Page: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)Department Debates - View all Jeff Smith's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(5 years ago)
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Matt Hancock
If the hon. Lady will write to me with the case, we will get a second opinion from a clinician who may be able to make that prescription.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
I agree that we need to remove the barriers for clinicians. We need evidence, but the problem with randomised control trials is the nature of cannabis. The fact that it contains many different compounds that interact makes it difficult to isolate the compounds that work for individuals. Cannabis is a unique treatment, and should really be in a licensing and scheduling category of its own to allow different approaches. I urge the Secretary of State to encourage observational trials so that we can allow patients to get access to the medical cannabis that will work for them.
Matt Hancock
We looked at observational trials, but the problem is that they do not build the evidence base that a full RCT does. A full RCT also allows some patients to get access while the trial is ongoing, so it is in fact a better proposal. It means that some patients can get the treatment now for the purposes of the trial, and then we can get a full evidence base for the long term, as was mentioned previously.