British Medical Cannabis Needs Boost
Individual Patient Stories Not Enough to Convince NHS of Effectiveness – LPC
Although technically medical cannabis is legal in the UK, the British medical cannabis movement is not moving as quickly as many would like. Lucy Stafford was one of only a handful of people with a medical cannabis licence in the country a year after legalization. And she still had to pay about $2,600 per month to get it.
“Before cannabis I would have had to take a large amount of opiates,” said Stafford, now 20. She suffers from Ehlers Danlos syndrome, an extremely painful disease that causes her limbs to dislocate and muscles to spasm. “I would have been … crying in pain for most of it, whereas now I am able to function. Sure I need to rest and take it easy but it has made living with my condition manageable and lets me function and have a life, something I never expected to have.”
The pain was unbearable, and yet doctors couldn’t increase her fentanyl dosage – an extremely potent and dangerous opiate.
When Stafford first tried cannabis – technically skirting the British medical cannabis system – it was night and day. Her pain went from a 10 to a 4, Stafford said, and she was able to sleep properly for the first time in years.
“On my medical notes my doctor described me as having transformed,” Stafford said. “I feel like I’ve become myself for the first time in my life. It’s absolutely unbelievable.”
More Cannabis Research Needed
Stories like this don’t convince everyone. American Charlotte Figi was a trailblazer for medical cannabis in that country. Last year, a child with severe epilepsy in the UK was denied cannabis treatments. The most predominate reason is that the long-term effects of cannabis on children are still unknown – and doctors do not want to cause further harm.
This is why cannabis research is so important. Until then, British medical cannabis – and indeed medical cannabis all around the world including Canada – will remain a big unknown for doctors.
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