Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the British Medical Journal's article, Assessment and management of cannabis use disorders in primary care, published on 1 April 2010, if his Department will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings on cannabis use disorder referenced in that article.

The change to the law to allow access to cannabis-based products for medicinal use does not change existing rules and policies on recreational use and misuse of cannabis. The Government has no plans to legalise cannabis and the penalties for unauthorised supply and possession remain unchanged.

Access to medicinal cannabis is strictly controlled. It must be prescribed by, or under the direction of, a specialist doctor on the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council. The specialist must consider all licensed medicines before prescribing any unlicensed cannabis-based medicine and such a prescription must be in the patient’s best interest, taking into consideration the evidence of benefit and potential for harm to that particular patient.