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

I am grateful this Topical Issue matter has been taken. The subject, access to medicinal cannabis where there is a medical need, has caught the Irish public's imagination over the past three and a half years. I have been quite vocal about it. The Minister of State will have to agree that this has been a very protracted process to provide legal access to medicinal cannabis in Ireland. Three years ago almost to the day, the majority of Deputies voted to allow the regulation of cannabis Bill I introduced go forward. That was a milestone in this debate on access to medicinal cannabis. Time is of the essence for people who need this medication. Over the period since that milestone, people have been forced to go abroad, to go to the black market or to go without. It is quite galling that people to whom this could be beneficial have to go without. The announcement last week that two cannabis-based products will be rescheduled will not make a major difference to most. People will still be forced to go abroad under licence, to go to the black market and to go without.

A six-year-old boy called Asseel Osman lives in New Ross. He has cerebral palsy with complex features. I have spoken to his dad many times over the past year. His dad has said to me that his son only knows a life of pain, but the administration of cannabis has made this young boy's life much easier and much better. The tragedy, however, is that Asseel's father is still forced to go abroad, still possibly breaking regulation. It is pretty immoral that people are being criminalised and forced to go abroad for a substance that could be beneficial to them.

It is welcome that these two products have been rescheduled. It is a significant medical milestone in Ireland that two products that contained CBD and THC can now be prescribed by consultants. That is to be welcomed. I have been quite critical of the medical cannabis access programme, MCAP. It is too restrictive and the bar is too high since it is consultant-led rather than GP-led. The conditions for the programme do not stipulate chronic pain and that is very controversial. The best research is available for cannabis use to treat chronic pain.

It is welcome that these products are available. People who are listening tonight will wonder when the programme will be up and running, when these products will be available and who is educating consultants about prescribing medical cannabis. Most consultants have said that they know little or nothing about the subject. It is imperative that the people who prescribe these products know about what they are prescribing. One does not have to go university to know that. It is something that the Department of Health should examine. It is welcome but we need to understand when this will progress for the people who could benefit from medical cannabis.

See this speech in context