Irish health minister publishes report on cannabis for medical use

Irish Health Minister Simon Harris on Friday published a scientific report on cannabis for medical use, which he described as a "milestone" in the development of policy on medicinal cannabis.

At the launch of the report, Harris said the government has decided to "establish an access program for cannabis-based treatments for certain conditions, where patients have not responded to other treatments and there is some evidence that cannabis may be effective for cannabis-based treatments."

Under the report, medical experts advised that if a policy decision is taken to permit cannabis under an access program, it should be for the treatment of patients with: spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis resistant to all standard therapies and interventions whilst under expert medical supervision; intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, despite the use of standard anti-emetic regimes whilst under expert medical supervision; severe, refractory epilepsy that has failed to respond to standard anticonvulsant medications whilst under expert medical supervision.

The report said that patients accessing cannabis through the program should be under the care of a medical consultant, and medical information and utilization data should be kept on a central register. Endit