Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 21 November (HL11829), whether they plan to ask (1) the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society, and (2) patient bodies such as the Medcan Family Foundation, to contribute to the review of the effect of the 2018 law change to allow access to unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use; and what steps they are taking to ensure that that review includes consultation with scientists and patients.

On 1 November 2018, cannabis-based products for medicinal use were placed in Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. The regulations permit the prescribing of these products by, or under the direction of, specialist clinicians on the General Medical Council Specialist Register, and for use in clinical trials.

On 2 June, the Government asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), a statutory independent scientific advisory body that advises the Government on drug-related issues, to review the effects of the 2018 law change. This will look at whether the changes have had the desired impact, and whether there are any unintended consequences. The ACMD is an independent scientific advisory body and determines its own procedures.

The ACMD published a public call for evidence running from 17 September 2025 to 17 October 2025, inviting submissions of evidence from all stakeholders, including, but not exclusive to, clinicians, patient bodies, scientists, and researchers. The Department alerted interested parties to the ACMD call for evidence, including the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society, as secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Medical Cannabis under Prescription, and patient bodies, including the Medcan Family Foundation.