Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the medicinal cannabis industry on the medicinal and therapeutic benefits of (a) cannabis and (b) cannabis-based medicinal products.

On 13 June 2018 the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health (Lord O’Shaughnessy) and officials had an introductory meeting with GW Pharmaceuticals, which develops licensed medicines containing ingredients derived from cannabis, during which the benefits of that company’s medicines were discussed.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for the regulation of medicines in the United Kingdom and has provided advice and guidance, on request, to companies developing cannabis-based medicinal products, to support specific medical indications in relation to potential future marketing authorisation applications for new medicines.