BY AGENCY REPORTER
Cancer patients should be allowed to use cannabis for pain relief, according to the England’s Drugs Minister, Norman Baker.
The Liberal Democrat minister has written to the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt calling for the current ban to be reviewed to allow the drug to be used medicinally, Mirror UK reports. Baker said he had seen more and more evidence that cannabis can provide genuine medical benefits to treat a number of conditions. These include the side effects of cancer and Aids treatment, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma. He said it was time to reconsider Britain’s drugs laws to stop people from having to break the law to help them cope with pain. [eap_ad_1] The Home Office minister has called for a review of the pain relief cannabis can bring, but the Department of Health has insisted it has no plans to change the law. Nick Clegg earlier this month said the Lib Dem general election manifesto would include a pledge to end imprisonment for possession of drugs for personal use.
The drugs minister said: “I think it is time to reconsider medicinal properties of cannabis, given what I’ve learned in my role as a minister.
“I’ve seen more and more evidence that cannabis can provide genuine medical benefits to treat a number of conditions. There is a growing body of research that shows the medical properties of chemical components of cannabis.”
He added: “I am uncomfortable that there are credible people I have met who tell me that cannabis is the only substance that helps relieve their condition but not only are they stopped from accessing it officially but have to break the law to help their health.
“Other countries recognise that cannabis does have medicinal benefit and we need to look again at this to help people who are ill. This is a quite separate matter from the recreational use of cannabis which is not at issue here.”
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