Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill

Debate between Rosena Allin-Khan and Andy McDonald

Friday 10th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) (Lab)]

I must begin by paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington (Jeff Smith), a fantastic campaigner who is working across party lines and with affected families up and down the country to make a real difference, both for those who are unable to obtain the treatment they need and for those who are left paying huge sums of money for private prescriptions. I also pay tribute to my dear and hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald), whose bravery in speaking today adds powerful testimony to this debate. I know 100% that his story echoes those of the people we are fighting for in this debate.

The objectives of this Bill, for me, are clear and simple, but I fear, listening to some of the contributions today, it has been misunderstood. It would be a huge step forward for patients who need access to medical cannabis, and it creates a register of general practitioners trained in medical cannabis who are allowed to prescribe it, in addition to the specialist doctors who are already able to do so. Inclusion on the register is on an opt-in basis for GPs. The Bill importantly creates a commission to propose a framework for the assessment of cannabis-based medicines and their suitability for prescription in England, to sit alongside existing Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency processes for conventional pharmaceutical drugs.

I think it is very clear that what the Bill is asking for is a step forward with an end in sight for the pain, anguish and heartache, not to mention bankruptcy, experienced by many families. No one is saying that there should not be a robust examination of all evidence, but we are saying that there are current mechanisms in place to protect people on the medication and that, while we wait for some extremely timely processes, there are families who cannot wait and who are very clearly benefiting from the medication. It is very important that we recognise that.

The commission is also tasked with recommending any other measures to overcome barriers to access on the NHS, which has been mentioned. Those changes would be welcome, as they would certainly help to reduce many of the barriers patients currently face when attempting to access medicinal cannabis. Progress in making cannabis-based medical products available to those who need them has been extremely slow. As we have heard today, there are people who have transitioned from childhood to adulthood while waiting for further progress on something that is important. The impact of continued seizures means that there is developmental delay for young people—the children we are talking about—and their ability to achieve their full potential in life. We cannot ignore that.

Labour welcomed the fact that the Government accepted the therapeutic use of cannabis in 2018, but it still remains too difficult for suffering patients to obtain the treatment that they need. Despite that change in the law over three years ago, the vast majority of people who would benefit from cannabis-based medical products are still unable to access them through the health service. The campaign group End our Pain believes that only three prescriptions have been granted through the NHS. That is surely nowhere near the levels that this House, patients and the wider medical community would have anticipated.

[Andy McDonald]

My hon. Friend is making a wonderful summary and presentation. Is she as frustrated as I am by some of the contributions that have been made today, which seem to suggest that we need to start again when having this debate? We have been through this process. The law has been changed to allow the prescription of these products, yet all we have are three. Is it not really frightening that we are now challenging the original decision to change the law? That is what has happened today.

[Dr Allin-Khan]

Absolutely. I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution. To take any further step backwards from the progress we have made in a cross-party collegiate manner would be a travesty. We would be letting down families across the country.