Dear,
I'm writing to draw attention to the Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill (raised by Jeff Smith, MP), which is now due the next reading in The House of Commons on Friday 25th February 2022. This is to support medical cannabis being made available on NHS prescriptions. Although the law changed in 2018 to allow for Cannabis flower and oil to be legally prescribed, in reality this has happened only 3 times, whereas thousands of people already have private prescriptions costing between hundreds and thousands of pounds per month, with a planned 40% imminent price increase for some. This is driving many people into poverty and inevitably for some, back into what is currently deemed criminal behaviour, to either growing illegally or buying illegally. It's noteworthy that some will not have tried cannabis prior to holding a prescription so actually, failures in the current system in these instances have direct responsibility for creating both the criminal and the criminal behaviour. With rising energy and food prices, this is only realistically going to get worse.
The private prescription system is not fit for purpose, given the tiered pricing systems, varying structures and major supply problems on a constant basis. It also means that patients prescribed medications like Sativex by the National Health Service are effectively stuck on such a product when other routes, strains or preparations might actually be more effective for them.
Thank you for your time and attention and please, lend your support towards this urgent and important matter.
Yours sincerely,