Cannabis News
Physicians Lack of Knowledge in Medicinal Cannabis
Cannabis has been used for centuries as a medicinal herb, with physicians utilising the plant’s therapeutic benefits. Unfortunately, until recently, most of the scientific community has been slow to recognise the therapeutic potential of cannabis.
UK Doctors Knowledge in Medical Cannabis:
Knowledge gaps exist in the treatment of CBMP (Cannabis-based-medicinal-products). Some of the biggest gaps are around dosing and efficacy, as well as the interaction with other drugs. For example, currently in the UK opioids are prescribed for pain management. Opioids have a tendency of showing side effects, if misused. If medical cannabis was used alongside opioids, it can manage the side effects that opioids pose. Doctors in the UK, have a very little amount of knowledge in this specific, medical cannabis sector. This is due to the rules and regulations that surround medical cannabis.
For people that are currently working in the industry, it may be easy to forget that majority of the UK population have little to no idea that medical cannabis has been legalised. Although it has been 2 years since medical cannabis has been legal, there are a number of people that still have little knowledge in this form of treatment. This may be due to the lack of exposure the industry has been getting.
Doctors Prescribing Medical Cannabis as a Last Resort:
The views upon medical cannabis can still be argued due to the classification of cannabis in the UK. Cannabis is currently classified as a class B drug. Many can argue that the properties contained within the flower can be still deemed as “dangerous”.
Due to lack of evidence, many healthcare professionals are finding it difficult to consider cannabis as a form of treatment. Licensing issues could also play a huge part in a doctors decision to prescribe cannabis. This is because, majority of the doctors are not licensed to issue prescriptions for cannabis. In order for healthcare professionals to prescribe medical cannabis, they must be registered on the GMC (General Medicine Council) register. If, for example, a patient had a reaction to the medicine prescribed by an unlicensed doctor, he/she could be held liable. Now, because of this risk a lot of medical professionals are reluctant to prescribe medical cannabis.
There are a variety of CBMP’s that can be used to treat a number of medical health conditions. Medical specialists are only able to prescribe cannabis on a case-by-case basis. In the health sector, medical cannabis is viewed as a last resort when prescribing it for medical conditions. Although medical cannabis can be the best form of treatment for chronic pain, healthcare professionals are advised to exhaust all other forms of treatment before considering medical cannabis.
Limiting Factors in Prescribing Medical Cannabis:
Over the years, we have seen the change in the legislation of medical cannabis. There may have been little exposure from the media, towards this industry, however if we look back at how far we have come from cannabis being classed as a Class A drug; to now being prescribed for health conditions – it is a pretty big journey. Doctors are still trying to gain more knowledge in this industry in order to prescribe patients that require this form of treatment.
One factor which limits doctors in prescribing medical cannabis is being registered on the GMC (General Medicine Council) register. Currently, there is estimated to be around 40-50 specialists who are able to prescribe medical cannabis. The limiting number of doctors who are able to prescribe medical cannabis, leads to many issues. For example, GPs are not allowed to prescribe medical cannabis. This can drive NHS costs significantly high. GPs must prescribe other forms of treatment for the patient, then they must exhaust all these treatment plans. Only then will they be able to have the chance of gaining access to medical cannabis.
