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3,496 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisI spoke to the Home Secretary this morning about the issue, and we proposed to see it as a health matter, not a borders matter. The Border Force officers were merely following the…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisYes, we are looking carefully at how we can use that legislation as effectively as possible. Understanding the medical consequences of any use of a drug is incredibly helpful…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisThe BPNA is going to have to answer for itself about the way in which its representatives conducted themselves in front of the Select Committee. It is independent. Understandably,…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisThe updated training will be available imminently. There are risks as well as upsides, and it is absolutely right that it is clinicians who make the judgment in respect of every…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisI do not know whether that is true—that is a question of Home Office policy on controlled drugs—but all in all that does not change the fact of the matter, which is that we need…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisI have heard that accusation being made by a couple of the parents. I am advised that that is not the case, but I am very much looking into it because in these circumstances I…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisOne of the great frustrations for me, for the Home Secretary and, of course, for the families is that, before the law was changed on 1 November, that course of action was open.…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisMy hon. Friend makes a very important point. To ensure that the use of medical cannabis becomes mainstream, we need to ensure that the evidence base is there. Essentially, doctors…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisI will look at that idea and discuss it with the NHS. The training programme that we are putting in place is intended to raise awareness of the evidence and the change in rules…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisYes, I think that is exactly the right approach and it is what we are working towards.08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisYes, absolutely. If the hon. Gentleman will write to me about the specific case, I will ensure it is dealt with appropriately.08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisCharacteristically, my hon. Friend makes an excellent point. The clinicians consider that there is a much less evidence on THC, as opposed to CBD. I have therefore instructed the…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisI did set out the answers to those questions in my initial response. There are a number of smaller active agents in medicinal cannabis, but there are two major ones: THC and CBD.…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisMy sympathies go out to the patients and their families who are desperately seeking to alleviate their symptoms with medicinal cannabis. We are working hard to get the right…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisYes, I would be very happy to do both those things.08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisYes, of course; I am very happy to do that. Perhaps I should take this opportunity to welcome the new public health Minister, the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisMy hon. Friend makes an important point. The Border Force should not be criticised in this case, because it was following the rules: if a clinician has not signed something off it…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisI am saying that if a patient needs medicinal cannabis, and if a clinician will sign off on that need, the prescription can happen. The guidance from the association does not…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisWe looked at observational trials, but the problem is that they do not build the evidence base that a full RCT does. A full RCT also allows some patients to get access while the…08 Apr 2019HANSARD Access to Medical CannabisIt is a source of deep frustration to me that the change in the law to normalise the use of medicinal cannabis has, exactly as the hon. Gentleman says, meant that, because a…08 Apr 2019