Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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484. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that medical practitioners who wish to prescribe cannabis-based products containing THC by applying for a licence under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 are finding it difficult to source the treatment due to the fact that pharmacies are reluctant to stock it as it may affect their licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9931/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Under the Misuse of Drugs legislation the Minister for Health may grant a licence to an Irish registered medical practitioner for access to cannabis for a named patient, where the course of cannabis treatment has been endorsed by a consultant who is responsible for the management of the patient and who is prepared to monitor the effects of treatment over time.

Valid licences allow for the importation, possession, supply, prescription and administration of THC-based cannabis products by the licencee. To date, licences have been issued for treatment of five separate individual patients.

The Misuse of Drugs legislation also provides for the granting of a licence to an Irish registered pharmacist for the importation of THC-based cannabis products, and for the supply of such products, on a named patient basis, on foot of a valid prescription written by an Irish registered medical practitioner who has been authorised to prescribe the THC-based products under Ministerial licence.