The UK’s National Health Service serves over one million people every day-and-a-half, a formational source of health care in a country with a population of less than 55 million. Many of those individuals suffer from a condition entailing chronic pain, which since October, qualifies them for a doctor’s recommendation for medicinal cannabis. But some residents have reported seeing troubling literature at Royal Derby Hospital, saying that clinical staff will not recommend medical cannabis to chronic pain patients due to “the risk of serious side effects.”
Medical marijuana has been legal in England since October, when Sajid Javid of Home Secretary reclassified the drug to Schedule II. The policy shift took place months after Billy Caldwell, a then 12-year-old epilepsy patient, was hospitalized after officials took away his medical cannabis.
Jon Liebling, the United Patients Alliance political director, told VICE News that the posters are congruent with reports they’ve been hearing from people seeking medical cannabis treatment for their pain issues. “We have seen patients being effectively banned from NHS Trust hospitals and this is yet another example of how much the medical profession have to learn.”
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Staff from the pain management clinic at Royal Derby Hospital openly acknowledged that such a restrictive policy was in place, saying the risk of a patient harming themselves with cannabis outweighs the benefits the drug can provide.
A spokesperson told a reporter that current scientific evidence is unconvincing when it comes to its role in pain management. “We would welcome high-quality studies into the use of cannabis-based medicinal products for pain treatment.”
In the UK, medical cannabis is hypothetically legally available in the form of cannabis-derived THC oil (non-THC CBD oils are legal and widely available.)