05
Nov
2018
News & Comment
01
Nov
2018
NICE Rejects UK’s Most Eminent Medicinal Cannabis Clinician From Advisory Committee
If the UK was setting up an expert committee on fertility and Professor Robert Winston applied to join, he'd be welcomed with open arms. If we were setting up a committee on the origin of the universe and Professor Brian Cox applied, there's no question he'd be appointed. But NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, yesterday rejected Professor Mike Barnes' application to join its...
31
Oct
2018
The Medical Establishment Shows Its True Colours On Cannabis. A Betrayal of Patients.
On 31st October 2018, NHS England published what it describes as prescribing guidance - 'Cannabis-based products for medicinal use: Guidance to clinicians'. The actual guidance is buried within a mountain of bureaucratic doublespeak and requires downloading PDFs from the Royal College of Physicians (download here) and the British Paediatric Neurology Association (download here). In both cases, aside from chemotherapy-induced nausea, the guidance amounts to 'do not prescribe'. This is a travesty of the intention of these reforms and demonstrates how the...
28
Oct
2018
Professor Mike Barnes On The Urgent Need For Medical Education In Cannabis.
See 'Cannabis Advocates Really Need To Stop Accusing Doctors of Being Bribed By Pharmaceutical Companies.' The urgent need now is physician education. Doctors just don’t know about the endocannabinoid system. They have never been taught it and thus don’t understand it and certainly don’t appreciate the benefit of medicinal cannabis. Only education will slowly change entrenched positions. The launch of the Academy of Medical Cannabis next week will go some way to help - see the website. I hope that the Medical...
28
Oct
2018
Cannabis Advocates Really Need To Stop Accusing Doctors of Being Bribed By Pharmaceutical Companies.
There may well be some doctors who are corrupt and there are still, despite much improvement, serious questions over the relationship between pharma companies and doctors but the idea that every member of the Faculty of Pain Medicine who signed that letter to the Times is taking bribes is ridiculous. The real reason is ignorance and that's not an attack on doctors, it's a reason. They have been subject to the same relentless torrent of reefer madness propaganda from government and...
26
Oct
2018
British Doctors Don’t Understand Cannabinoid Medicine. They’ve Been Denied Education In The Basic Science.
Today's letter to the Times from a group of pain medicine consultants (reproduced below) is is an astonishing display of evidence-free ignorance from a profession that needs to challenge its own prejudice. To compare the addiction potential of cannabis with opioids is ridiculous and demonstrates just how detached from the science and evidence are those making this claim. Doctors will understandably feel challenged by a medicine that upturns many of their conventional habits. They have been prevented from understanding the science of...
10:14 /
Medicine
24
Oct
2018
Delegate Forcibly Removed From CTA Conference For Asking A Question
A lone woman attending the CTA conference was, according to a witness "walked out by the bouncer" reportedly for asking a question which the directors found uncomfortable. To compound this further example of bullying under Mike Harlington's leadership, the directors are now trying...
18
Oct
2018
The MHRA On CBD/Hemp Products And Its Relationship With Trade Associations
This is an email from the MHRA to a CBD/Hemp supplier which name is redacted. It clearly sets out the MHRA's position regarding the Cannabis Trades Association, its 'Cannabis Products Directive' proposal and how anyone is able to obtain advice from the MHRA without having to join any trade association. It also explains how medical claims may only be made about a CBD product if it has the required licence known as a marketing authorisation. This is authoritative guidance from the...
16
Oct
2018
Statement Concerning The Cannabis Trades Association UK
With regret, CLEAR announces that it has withdrawn its endorsement of and support for the Hemp Trade Association Ltd (HTA) trading as Cannabis Trades Association UK (CTA). Peter Reynolds, president of CLEAR, created and founded CTA in September 2016. Since November 2016, HTA has traded under the CTA name with the permission of Peter Reynolds who was appointed to its advisory board. That permission has been withdrawn from 18th October 2018 and Peter has resigned from the advisory board with immediate...
12
Oct
2018
Will I Be Able To Get Cannabis Prescribed On The NHS?
With the publication of new regulations yesterday, it is now clear how cannabis will be available on the NHS starting on 1st November 2018. Only consultants will be able to prescribe cannabis and it will be entirely up to each consultant to make a decision about individual patients. The definition of cannabis-derived medicinal products is sufficently wide that both oils and herbal cannabis manufactured to GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) standards will be available. There is very little explanation included in the regulations...