What Is The Matter With Doctors About The Use Of Cannabis As Medicine?
In the UK, most doctors, and the medical profession as a whole, are ignorant and bigoted about cannabis.
Their ignorance is not entirely their own fault. For 50-odd years, since cannabis tincture was last available from UK pharmacies, they have been subject to the same relentless tide of propaganda from the Home Office, successive governments, the tabloid press and rabble-rousing politicians as the rest of society. Many still regard cannabis as a dangerous drug consumed by degenerates that almost inevitably leads to mental illness. The idea that it could be a safe and effective medicine which offers real benefits in a wide range of conditions is regarded as laughable.
However, there is no excuse for such laziness amongst a profession that regards itself as scientific. And this is the charge – indolence, carelessness and laziness – that needs to be laid at those doctors at NHS England, the Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Neurologists Association, that are responsible for the disgraceful ‘guidelines’ published two weeks ago.
Throughout Europe, Israel, Canada and the USA there are thousands of doctors who have made the effort to learn about cannabinoid medicine. They have had to make extraordinary effort to do because even the most basic science is still rarely taught. The endocannabinoid system is on the syllabus of very few medical schools, anywhere in the world, despite the fact we now know that it is the largest neurotransmitter network in the body and affects almost every aspect of our health and all medical conditions. This is a dreadful indictment of the medical establishment but particularly of doctors in the UK, very few of whom have made any effort at all.
So while, to a degree, the ignorance can be forgiven, the bigotry cannot. It is cowardice. These doctors prefer to cover their own backs, protect themselves and prefer an absurd level of caution to doing what is in their patients’ best interests. The incredibly low risk attached to cannabis in any form, at any age and particularly when under medical supervision, is simply overlooked.
Yes, the medical profession is known to be ‘conservative’ but in the case of cannabis this is an excuse. Yes, we live in an increasingly litigious society but any truly professional doctor would not be cowed by such fear when the evidence is widely available, if they could be bothered to look. And what is this ‘conservatism’ of? Modern medicine is barely a century old. It is new in the history of our species and while the reductionist approach has brought great benefit and made huge advances, it is at the expense of thousands of years of human experience which has been dismissed as valueless.
These doctors may feel that the reforms have been foisted on them with no consultation and little notice but this is not a political game, it affects the lives of millions, from the youngest baby to the oldest, most senior citizens. These doctors are failing in their professional duty. For too long they have enjoyed being regarded with ultimate respect, rarely being questioned or challenged by their patients but those days are gone. Most of the population is now far better informed than ever before, largely because of the internet and although this may cause doctors some problems, they have to learn to live with it. They have to respect their patients, parents and carers and recognise more than ever before that healthcare is about co-operation, about working together. They have to come down from their ivory towers and start delivering truly patient-centred medicine.
NHS Guidelines Offer People Who Need Cannabis As Medicine Two Choices. Go Private Or Carry On Being A Criminal.
Go Private…
…Or Be A Criminal
Following the new Misuse of Drugs Regulations, which came into force on 1st November, the NHS has issued guidelines on cannabis for medical use, both for clinicians and for the public.
The best that can be said about these is that they are NOT the law. In fact they are inaccurate, misleading and provide a seriously distorted picture both of the new regulations and of the evidence that is available on the use of cannabis as medicine. The crucial points are these. There are NO RESTRICTIONS on what conditions cannabis may be prescribed for. As well as oils, raw herbal cannabis may also be prescribed – for vaping only, smoking is prohibited. All the decisions are entirely in the hands of the prescribing consultant.
Of course, the problem is your consultant likely knows nothing about cannabis.
Action is being taken on medical education but it is going to take time. On the authority of the prescribing NHS consultant depends the funding to acquire whatever form of cannabis is required, in itself a difficult process as export licences will have to be obtained in the country of origin, either the Netherlands or Canada. So for those that can afford it, going to a private clinic could be the quickest and most efficient way of getting the medicine that they need. In fact, it’s becoming increasingly clear, it may be the only way.
For most people, already using cannabis as medicine, this means they will carry on as before, either growing themselves, sourcing supply from friends, acquaintances or dealing with the criminal market, dealers who cannot be trusted, product of unknown quality.
My advice? In the present circumstances, I really believe the state no longer has any moral authority to prosecute anyone who can show they are using cannabis for medicine. As the state has now recognised ‘conclusive evidence’ of medicinal benefit, the position has changed since the infamous R v Quayle case of 2005. I believe the Court would now support medical necessity as an argument.
So I advise you to grow. If you are able and have the space, it is the best option. For an investment of a few hundred pounds, purchase a fully configured set up of tent, light, irrigation and ventilation. Grow autoflowering seeds, just one or two plants at a time will meet most individual needs. With modern equipment, it really is much easier and more reliable than you might think.
This is a radical change in my advice and in CLEAR policy but as explained it is now fully justified.
But for those that can afford it, there is now a huge unmet need that surely private operators will step in to fulfil? It is a huge opportunity. It’s now perfectly legal to establish a private cannabinoid medicine clinic. This will represent the cutting edge of the new medical cannabis market. It will require highly specialised doctors who are on the GMC’s specialist register. With a few months intensive training in Canada or the USA, possibly the Netherlands, an admin team that gets efficient with the procedures necessary to import. This is the makings of a very exciting, profitable new, private medicine enterprise, charging very expensive fees.
I understand this will offend some but I believe it must be encouraged. This is what will push the NHS to catch up. Historically, advances in medicine have always happened in the private sector first. This is how cannabis medicine has prospered in other countries and it will be the same in the UK.
So, the problem is still far from solved. For some years, many people will continue to suffer unnecessarily but we have made huge strides and the war is won. Now we must make the peace.
Review. Flower Power CBD Infused Coffee
My name is Peter and I am a coffee addict.
I am hopelessly dependent, both physically and psychologically. Even more serious for the long term is that I really like my thick, sweet, very strong espresso and I have neither the desire nor any intention to give up!
Compared to coffee, my relationships with cannabis and alcohol, my other daily habits, are free and easy. I can do without even if I’d rather not. Once I walk away from my keyboard in the early evening then a beer and firing up my vaporiser are my cues to switch off and relax. But I can go without. Not without the thick black stuff though. I cannot get to lunchtime caffeine-free.
So the opportunity to combine coffee with CBD is right up my street. I’ve tried it before and I’ve also tried a wider spectrum of cannabinoids in coffee. It’s a marriage made in heaven. A caffeine kick mellowed with a cannabis cuddle, or a cwtch as we say in Wales.
From the Flower Power coffee range, I chose Morning Glory. It promises strength and South American stimulation. I wasn’t disappointed. It is truly delicious, blending excellent coffee with the earthy taste of CBD extract in a way that really works. It’s very easy to get this wrong. Some of the hemp coffee I’ve tried has been truly disgusting, managing to capture the very worst flavour of the nastiest, most bitter CBD oil you’ve ever tried. Flower Power have got this right, it’s gorgeous. As they used to say about that other black stuff, it tastes good and it does you good!
To order or for further information go to the website: http://flowerpowercoffeeco.uk/ or contact Scott Hardacre, National Sales Director at: info@flowerpowercoffeeco.uk
NICE Rejects UK’s Most Eminent Medicinal Cannabis Clinician From Advisory Committee
Professor Mike Barnes, the UK’s Pre-Eminent Clinician In Medicinal Cannabis
If the UK was setting up an expert committee on fertility and Professor Robert Winston applied to join, he’d be welcomed with open arms. If we were setting up a committee on the origin of the universe and Professor Brian Cox applied, there’s no question he’d be appointed. But NICE, the National Institute for Healh and Care Excellence, yesterday rejected Professor Mike Barnes’ application to join its committee on cannabis-based products for medicinal use.
This follows the appointment of an expert panel in the summer for which FOI Requests revealed that not one member had any knowledge, experience or expertise in cannabis as medicine. And yesterday, prescribing guidelines were issued by NHS England which are absurd in how restrictive they are. In effect they say ‘do not prescribe’.
The new regulations introduced by Sajid Javid are a breakthrough in UK drugs policy. They offer tremendous hope to millions of people for whom conventional medicine has failed but the response of the medical establishment is dreadful. It’s not doctors’ fault that they have been prevented from learning about cannabis but we now need all teh exprtise that we can possibly get. Rejecting Professor Mike Barnes’ advice is ridiculous and someone, perhaps Sajid Javid himself, needs to step in and put this right.
The Medical Establishment Shows Its True Colours On Cannabis. A Betrayal of Patients.
NHS England has today published what it describes as prescribing guidance – ‘Cannabis-based products for medicinal use: Guidance to clinicians‘.
The actual guidance is buried within a mountain of bureaucratic doublespeak and requires downloading PDFs from the Royal College of Physicians (download here) and the British Paediatric Neurology Association (download here). In both cases, aside from chemotherapy-induced nausea, the guidance amounts to ‘do not prescribe’. This is a travesty of the intention of these reforms and demonstrates how the medical establishment is more interested in protecting its self-interest than in helping patients gain the benefits of cannabis as medicine. Cowardly and scared are the two words which best sum this up.
It’s no surprise that doctors in the UK are ignorant about the use of cannabis as medicine. They have been subject to the same relentless torrent of reefer madness propaganda from government and media as the rest of society. They have been prevented even from learning about the endocannabinoid system by the authoritarian policy of prohibition and any doctor in the UK who has any experience of cannabis as medicine will have been in breach of professional ethics as well as the law.
But it’s deeply disappointing that the authors of these documents have made no effort to understand the excellent work that is being done by medical professionals in other countries. The Royal College of Physicians and the BPNA will be a laughing stock across the world in the many more enlightened and educated jurisdictions where patients are gaining great benefit. But of course, this isn’t a laughing matter. In fact, these two so-called professional bodies are making it a tragedy.
Clearly, what is in the best interests of patients is that we must bring in expertise from overseas. There are eminent doctors abroad who will be glad to step in, particularly in private practice, and pick up this baton which the NHS has fumbled and dropped in the most clumsy fashion.
This is a huge opportunity for those in private medicine who can set aside these cowardly excuses and make the most of the new regulations for patients who are fortunate enough to be able to afford it.
For the average Briton with chronic pain, Crohn’s Disease or an epilpetic child this is a kick in the teeth from the profession that is supposed to care for them.
Dr Who and Rosa Parks
I am that small child who hid behind the sofa from the Daleks. I remember it vividly. I associate it with being allowed to stay up late and having red sauce sandwiches for supper.
But since William Hartnell, no Doctor has ever charmed me. I’ve appreciated the effort and attempted humour in all of them. Some have become iconic, like Tom Baker with his long scarf but none of them ever made the show compulsive viewing for me. In fact as time went on it bored me.
Jodie Whittaker, the first female doctor, is a revelation. It was only on in the background but the writing and her perfomance are spellbinding and it captured me. That elusive humour is achieved, the wit is right on point. It is delightful.
And never has Dr Who moved me so deeply. With an elegant and perfectly judged time travel satire on the Rosa Parks story. The dramatisation that inspired tears to roll down my cheeks with a science fiction wonder, belief suspended, all my entertainment receptors tingling. It was simply the very best of television. Dont miss it, catch up here.
Professor Mike Barnes On The Urgent Need For Medical Education In Cannabis.
The urgent need now is physician education. Doctors just don’t know about the endocannabinoid system. They have never been taught it and thus don’t understand it and certainly don’t appreciate the benefit of medicinal cannabis. Only education will slowly change entrenched positions.
The launch of the Academy of Medical Cannabis next week will go some way to help – see the website. I hope that the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society, also launched next week, will enable like-minded doctors to ‘spread the word’ and provide patients with a contact to a trained and knowledgeable clinician to prescribe for them.
Professor Mike Barnes is a consultant neurologist and has been a member of the CLEAR Advisory Board since July 2016.
