Cannabis: Medical Treatments

(asked on 23rd October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to encourage companies to (a) increase collection of high-quality evidence through randomised control trials and (b) pursue regulatory approval for cannabis-based medicinal products.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 10th November 2020

The Department is working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) to establish clinical trials to develop the evidence base to support further commissioning decisions for cannabis-based medicinal products (CBPMs).

The NIHR has identified research on cannabis-based medicinal products as a priority and has issued two calls to encourage high quality research proposals in this area. Industry also needs to step up and invest in robust clinical trials to improve understanding of how patients might benefit from these products.

CBPMs are subject to the same licensing rules as other medicines, and the medicines regulator will assess any applications from manufacturers to determine the quality, safety and efficacy of a medicine.

Reticulating Splines