Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will review the regulatory framework for prescribing cannabis-based medicinal products to allow GPs to prescribe those treatments.

General practitioners (GPs) can only prescribe unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use if under the direction of a specialist.

These medicines are not first-line treatments and patients will be at a stage in their treatment pathway where they will be under the care of a specialist doctor. Whilst the evidence-base remains limited on the safety, quality, and efficacy of these products, it is right that the decision to prescribe remains essentially with specialist doctors. As with all laws, we will keep its impact under review.