Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

245. To ask the Minister for Health if reports have been received from the Health Products Regulatory Authority and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health in respect of medical cannabis; his plans to bring forward legislation to make medical cannabis available on prescription; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10529/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As you know, on 3 November I asked the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) to examine the issue of medicinal cannabis and provide me with a report on the matter. I received the HPRA's report ‘Cannabis for Medical Use – A Scientific Review’ on 31 January. I received a copy of the "Report on Medicinal Cannabinoids" from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health on 26 January.

On 10 February I published the HPRA report and announced the establishment of an access programme for cannabis-based treatments for the following conditions:

- Spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis resistant to all standard therapies and interventions;

- Intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, despite the use of standard anti-emetic regimes;

- Severe, refractory (treatment-resistant) epilepsy that has failed to respond to standard anticonvulsant medications.

Patients accessing cannabis through the programme will have to be under the care of a medical consultant.

The following steps will now taken to forward progress on the medicinal cannabis access programme:

- The report has been referred to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health for consideration.

- Officials from my Department and the HPRA will consult with stakeholders on how the access programme will operate. It will be particularly important to engage with the clinical community in the development of a framework.

- Department of Health officials are examining legislative changes that will be required to underpin the access programme.

I now intend to progress the establishment of this access programme as a priority but to be clear, patients accessing cannabis through the cannabis access programme will need to be recommended for cannabis treatment by a relevant clinician involved in the patient's care.