Medical Marijuana Available in England and Scotland

In wales, there is limited availability. MS sufferers are only allowed to take the drug for muscles spasms not to relieve pain, only once they have tried other medicinal options.

Sativex isn’t authorised for use in the U.S as the FDA haven’t approved its use, although it is in phase 3 trialling. (independent.co.uk)

In the U.K cannabis is not recognised as having any therapeutic value under U.K law, and individuals can commit a vast range of criminal offences, some of which include possession and supplying.

Doctors, at their own risk, can privately prescribe Sativex. Pharmacists can possess and dispense the drug and named patients with a prescription can receive and possess. The synthetic form of THC is called Nabilone and in the UK, is licenced since 1982, for prescription only, hospital only use. This is used for the side effects of chemotherapy which are nausea and vomiting. These are used for side effects that are unresponsive to other treatments. Eli Lilly and Co synthetically manufacture it LTD and sold in the U.K by Cambridge self-care diagnostics LTD. (release.org.uk, ND)

There is an advocacy group for U.K medical marijuana patients called United Patient’s Alliance. A patient survey which was carried out by them, which found that depression is the most common condition amongst those who medicate for mental health reasons, targeted by 30% of respondents. Those were followed by anxiety at 26.3%. 4.8% of those surveyed cited ADHD. There is research that shows embracing medical marijuana for pain relief and pain management could save 25% of the thousands of patients who die each year in the U.K due to opiate misuse. (volteface.me)

Primary Research

Introduction

The researcher intentions of the collated data are to find out whether people think that medical marijuana should legalised in the U.K. and what benefits those people think that it has on illnesses and diseases.

The researcher hopes to establish enough data to prove their hypothesis whether it be proven or not.

From this chart the researcher can see that more people support the need for medical research to take place in the UK, so that medical marijuana can be legalised.

As seen in this pie chart it shows many different ailments that people suffer from, in which they could potentially benefit from using medical marijuana if it was legalised.

From this chart the researcher can see that many people in contrast to not, have heard of CBD oil and how it helps people with debilitating symptoms of different diseases and illnesses.

From this chart many people have supported the fact that medical marijuana should be legalised in the U.K.

Many people agree that much more research needs to take place so that they have more knowledge in how medical marijuana helps different ailments and how many patients can benefit from medical marijuana and its ability to heal.

Analysis of interviews

The researcher collected data which corresponds with each other. Both said that medical marijuana has benefits for debilitating illnesses such as cancer and the side effects that go with it. “I believe that medical marijuana probably does help to alleviate pain in some diseases such as cancer for some people despite the inconclusive research on this topic.” Both said in their experiences that they have seen that it has beneficial effects for long term use with such illnesses. “It’s been proven in many studies to help with the effects of chemo and if you wish we can try a pill called marinol.” It took a couple of weeks, but we saw great improvement on it. She gained her appetite and weight back quickly.”

Both agree that it should be legalised so that people have access to it to treat illnesses and diseases that cause severe side effects that can be debilitating.

Conclusion

As medical marijuana becomes more popular worldwide and more research studies are taking place, irrefutable evidence remains in very short supply. Many of the troubles involve controlling the quality and the quantity of the drug being given and supplied and adhering to what is legally available to researchers. If some countries do legalise cannabis for medicinal purposes, there could be more evidential research that could take place and we can find out more about the effects marijuana has on people and their diseases and illnesses.

Until marijuana is down graded from a schedule 1 controlled substance in the U.S, it is very unlikely that widespread clinical trials can take place. If we really want a definitive answer as to whether medical marijuana is valuable for symptom and pain management, it would need to be evaluated using the same standards as other medicines. There would also have to be some testing of some sort on each person with a different problem and then record their findings as this will build a picture as to what it works on and if it has no effects and whether it has any long-term side effects.

Most of the research has been American based as few clinical trials have taken place in the U.K, however the research suggests that they are trying to study the use of medical marijuana for other ailments other than for multiple sclerosis in the U.K. It has been suggested that medical marijuana could be a cure for some cancers and some clinical trials for this have already taken place. If this is the case, then the government need to act on this instead of letting millions die from the more incurable/ terminal cancers that we know today.

The research suggests that medical marijuana should be legalised for medicinal and therapeutic purposes, but there must be strict rules for the use and distribution of it. Although there are early clinical trials taking place, from the research that has already taken place it shows that it is already having positive effects on peoples lives that have debilitating conditions, that without medical marijuana would still be suffering long term.

The research suggests that not only does it help with pain management, but it can also help with long term problems such as nausea from chemotherapy.

The researcher found that overall people were for the use of medical marijuana to be legalised to treat people that can use it for medicinal purposes that can help with illnesses and diseases. The primary data that was collated found that a lot of people have used medical marijuana to treat illnesses and have had good results from the use of it. The data may have occurred for the use of medical marijuana because increasingly more people are using it to treat things such as cancer, epilepsy etc and people want to see it legalised so that they have easier access to it when they need to use it. From the secondary data there is not much research being undertaken in the U.K as there is in the USA. From my secondary research many people stated that more UK based research needs to take place for proof that it does treat illnesses and diseases. the validity of the results gained from the research must be shown to be true as it was an online, anonymous and anyone could fill out the questionnaire. Therefore, the researcher believes that it is a reliable source of information.

Recommendations

The researcher would recommend that more research should take place so that medical marijuana can be available to those people that rely on it.

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