Medicinal cannabis in the UK: Why is it so hard to access?
We hear from the leading figure in UK cannabis medicine about why access is still limited, and a chronic pain sufferer who says medicinal cannabis has changed her life.
Many physicians, academics and patients hoped the battle to get the UK prescribing cannabis as a medicine would end after legislative changes were made in 2018, however access is still limited and proving difficult for many.
Professor Mike Barnes has been at the forefront of UK cannabis medicine since the mid-90s and he tells 5 Live’s Rick Edwards about the long road to legislative change, and what barriers still remain.
5 Live's Clare McDonnell also speaks to a former nurse and champion fencer Lara Smith who developed chronic pain after a surgical accident. She tells the story of how migrating to prescription medicinal cannabis - after years on a cocktail of debilitating opioid medications - changed her life.
