Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The current licensing system, under which 21 licences have been granted, is cumbersome and is not workable. The majority of the licence-holders cannot be reimbursed. Last week, I raised the cases of two families who have to spend more than €10,000 a year. They have to travel to Holland four times a year to get a prescription. I do not think there is any other drug or substance for which people must leave the State if they wish to bring it in under licence. That is somewhat bizarre.

When Britain changed the law on 1 November, medical cannabis could be prescribed for chronic pain as part of the programme. Under the Danish system, which we are seeking to emulate, neuropathic pain is part of the programme. I know that chronic pain is a broad term.

When one considers that one person in six suffers from chronic pain and 40% of those who suffer do not have any relief whatsoever from opiate-based medicines, because of the crisis in the over-use of opiates, not only in Ireland but across the world, medicinal cannabis should definitely be a viable option for the very many who suffer excruciating chronic pain.

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