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Patients struggling to access cannabis-based medicine via prescription, report finds

A report published today into the use of medicinal cannabis for problems such as nausea caused by chemotherapy says patients have had their expectations raised unfairly by a change in the law last year

The inquiry by MPs on the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee says doctors remain reluctant to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products, despite the new regulations which allow some of them to do so in certain limited circumstances.

The report says this is partly because there have not been enough clinical trials to prove whether such products have a beneficial effect.

Dr Sarah Wollaston, chair of the committee which produced the report, said: “Expectations were unfairly raised that these products would become widely and readily available, and there needs to be far clearer communication that this is not the case.”

We know this is an issue of concern to our community and we welcome this report highlighting the lack of clarity around last year’s change in the law.

We believe it is crucial that doctors and patients are able to make decisions based on clinical evidence.

We will continue to fund high-quality research into brain tumours and their treatments and would welcome applications from researchers keen to investigate the potential benefits of medicinal cannabis.