“Short Inquiry into the case for changing the categorisation of cannabis for medicinal purposes from Schedule 1 to a more appropriate Schedule”
On September 13th, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Drug Policy Reform published its report and recommendations following its inquiry and presented all the evidence to No 10 Downing Street along with United Patients Alliance and #EndOurPain
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| From the left: Frank Warburton (APPG), Jon Liebling, Clark French (UPA), Prof Mike Barnes, Peter Carroll (#EndOurPain), Baroness Molly Meacher |
The APPG has over 100 MPs and Peers
as its members and is Co-Chaired by Caroline Lucas MP and crossbench peer Baroness
Molly Meacher.
Molly attended our Patient Perspective event in London last year and was “deeply moved” by what she heard. She told us on the night, “I had no idea it had such a broad range of benefits. We have to do something about this!”
In the first of many meetings with Molly and her team we successfully argued that “a more appropriate schedule” would be better than “to Schedule 2” reflecting the fact that GW Pharmaceuticals full plant extract medicine Sativex is in Schedule 4 and as such, this should be considered more carefully.
In addition we were overjoyed to have successfully made the case for the inclusion of a recommendation to decriminalise "Grow Your Own" for patients witin the report.
The APPG’s report included evidence from many written submissions and oral hearings in which UPA and a number
of our patients took part, along with many other interested groups from both
sides of the fence. Most significantly, one of the UK’s top consultant neurologists,
Professor Mike Barnes, published his comprehensive and qualitative review of
the scientific evidence for cannabis’ efficacy for many conditions which was supported by the publication of the results from APPG and United Patients Alliance recent
survey of over 600 medical cannabis patients.
All the documents can be accessed here:
APPG Report: Accessing Medicinal Cannabis: Meeting Patient’s Needs
Professor Mike Barnes: Cannabis: The Evidence for Medical Use
United Patients Alliance: Medicinal Cannabis Patient Survey
Alongside this launch, #EndOurPain presented their petition:
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| House of Lords From Left: Clark French, Founder and Director UPA, Caroline Lucas MP, Baroness Molly Meacher and UPA Political Director, Jonathan Liebling |
All the documents can be accessed here:
APPG Report: Accessing Medicinal Cannabis: Meeting Patient’s Needs
Professor Mike Barnes: Cannabis: The Evidence for Medical Use
United Patients Alliance: Medicinal Cannabis Patient Survey
Alongside this launch, #EndOurPain presented their petition:
Sign up to support #EndOurPain here: http://www.endourpain.org/
Whilst we await an official response from the UK Government which we expect will be forthcoming in the next few weeks, it has never been a better time to get involved with United Patients Alliance and help us drive the forward.
We need all the help we can muster - CLICK here if you would like to!
Whilst we await an official response from the UK Government which we expect will be forthcoming in the next few weeks, it has never been a better time to get involved with United Patients Alliance and help us drive the forward.
We need all the help we can muster - CLICK here if you would like to!
