Legislation in regard to medicinal cannabis

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.033113

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please, can you provide me with:-

1) Legislation in regard to medicinal cannabis.
2) Resources made available to officers in regard to how to deal with medicinal cannabis.
3) Information on how officers are trained in dealing with medicinal cannabis, such as training programmes and initiatives.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - Legislation in regard to medicinal cannabis.

From November 2018 certain cannabis-based medicines were made available on prescription to patients in the U.K suffering from certain medical conditions.
Cannabis has not been legalised and remains a Class B controlled drug. Only a specialist doctor who is on the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council can prescribe the medicines.

Only products meeting the definition of a cannabis-based medicinal product and are licenced in the UK are available for medicinal use. Specific conditions set out such medicines and authorised amounts, storage and administration requirements.

Q2 - Resources made available to officers in regard to how to deal with medicinal cannabis.

The internal MPS intranet provides resources to assist officers. There are articles and materials available on the internal MPS intranet outlining legislation and guidance.

Q3 - Information on how officers are trained in dealing with medicinal cannabis, such as training programmes and initiatives.

Officers receive training inputs on drugs during their initial training as well as on professional development days. They will receive circulations in relation to any policy/legislation changes and operational updates. All frontline BCU’s have a drugs focus desk which comprises of specialist officers with knowledge and skills around drugs. The MPS also has a cohort of drugs expert witnesses. Such specialist officers are available to advise frontline colleagues in any drug related queries. There are no specific MPS training programmes in relation to medicinal cannabis.