Cannabis spray made available on NHS
Doctors will be able to prescribe a cannabis-based mouth spray to multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers on the NHS, the government announced today.
The Home Office said the drug, known as Sativex, could be prescribed to patients for individual use, but that doctors would have to apply for a Home Office licence first.
Sativex is yet to be licensed in the UK, but the government says it will allow the drug to be imported from Canada, where it is legal.
However, the Home Office also said it has asked the Commission on Human Medicines to monitor the safety of the drug, which was refused a licence from regulators last year due to lack of proven efficacy.
A previous study by the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Liverpool had concluded that Sativex reduced pain and sleep disturbance.
About 85,000 people in the UK have MS, which causes a range of symptoms including abnormal fatigue, lack of balance and coordination, slurred speech and pain.
