The Guernsey Committee for Health & Social Care has approved the necessary legislative changes to support islanders to access prescribed medicinal cannabis.
Earlier this year HSC identified a number of practical barriers which were hindering the implementation of legislative changes made in 2019 to allow, in defined circumstances, the local prescribing of pharmaceutical standard medicinal cannabis by authorised specialists.
Rather than islanders being reliant on local doctors feeling able and willing to prescribe such products and being appropriately qualified to do so, HSC has been actively progressing the necessary legislative changes to enable islanders to privately access care through off-island clinics and for prescribed cannabis products to be lawfully imported into the Bailiwick.
Dr Peter Rabey, Medical Director said: “These recent legislative changes build on the amendments made by HSC in 2019. They will allow the lawful importation of prescribed medical cannabis from the UK through the establishment of a licensing process. They will also extend the ability to prescribe medicinal cannabis to include GPs rather than just specialists. Occasionally there are unforeseen practical barriers when legislation is amended. As soon as this was identified, HSC prioritised the necessary changes to allow islanders access to medicinal cannabis”.
These legislative changes come into force on 28th September 2020.
