Medicinal Cannabis

Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts

Monday 6th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell]

The noble Baroness is very specific in her questions, and I am afraid I am not able to answer them specifically because they are subject to restrictions and confidentiality. Where I agree with the thrust of her question is that we have been in a bit of a cul-de-sac in this area, but the department is working hard to unblock the problems that have existed. Despite Covid, we appear to be making some progress on this.

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB) [V]]

My Lords, two cannabis medicines have MHRA approval. One of them, Sativex—prescribed within the NHS for multiple sclerosis—has a high level of the active cannabinoid THC, so we know cannabis has medical value. There is no doubt that many more cannabis medicines will be licensed in the coming years. Does the Minister therefore agree that while we are reviewing our current trials, we should evaluate whether it is justified to regard cannabis, in a medical way, as a controlled drug in the long term?

[Lord Bethell]

The noble Baroness will not be surprised to learn that I have just spent three and a half months looking at drugs that might make a difference to Covid, only to find that many of them are not helpful and often quite dangerous, so I do not share the optimism bias that many have towards unlicensed drugs. We remain conservative in our approach to clinical trials. I agree with the noble Baroness and others who have suggested that progress on this should be quicker, and I am leaning into the subject to try to bring that about as soon as we can.