
The Role of the Private Sector Supporting the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Post-Brexit
Recently featured on BBC news is the story of Sophia Gibson – parents of the nine-year-old girl with a severe form of epilepsy are “devastated” after it emerged her supply of cannabis medicine from the Netherlands via her NHS prescription will stop due to Brexit. [1] An upsetting and unexpected outcome of the UK’s departure from the EU.
The UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) cautioned that once the transition period ends, prescriptions issued in the UK will no longer be honoured by EU Member States. In practice, this means that severely epileptic children who are essentially reliant on medical cannabis will be unable to access the treatment they need after Brexit, as the supply chain is based in the Netherlands. [2]
“Due to Brexit it is no longer possible to obtain oils made by Dutch pharmacies. Those oils were imported by presenting Dutch Pharmacies with UK prescriptions for cannabis oils. Leaving the EU has meant English prescriptions are no longer valid.
Those oils were used to treat a range of indications: neurologic, mental health, pain and epilepsy. Thankfully, cheaper oils produced by UK companies are acceptable alternatives for most patients. Switching from using Dutch Pharmacies to UK cannabis has drastically reduced the cost of treatment from £3500 to £350/month in the case of those treated for epilepsy and from £400 to £130/month for those treated for pain.

CDPRG
The group exists to find and examine the evidence to support policymakers in reducing harm and securing the benefits of evidence-based drug policy. The CDPRG act as an advisory panel for the JPD Capital group supported by their unenumerated Policy Council. Crispin Blunt, MP Chairs both the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform, and the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group and has shared his comment on the current issues around medicinal cannabis access due to Brexit:

You can do this by visiting the link here which will provide a template letter and help you find out who your local MP is: https://endourpain.org/find-my-mp/