Specialist doctors in the UK will be able to legally prescribe cannabis-derived medicinal products by autumn, the home secretary has announced.
Those that meet safety and quality standards are to be made legal for patients with an “exceptional clinical need”, Sajid Javid said.
It follows high-profile cases involving children with severe epilepsy being denied access to cannabis oil.
Others forms of cannabis will remain illegal.
According to BBC News, Mr. Javid’s decision was made after the chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies, and the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs said patients with certain medical conditions should be given access to the treatments.
Their advice was part of a review into medicinal cannabis launched by the home secretary following an outcry over Billy Caldwell and Alfie Dingley being denied access to cannabis oil.
The parents of the boys, who have rare forms of epilepsy, say it controls their seizures.
