Chief Medical Officer calls for robust trials of medicinal cannabis

England's Chief Medical Officer Prof Dame Sally Davies has called for robust scientific trials of medicinal cannabis to check safety.

Speaking at the Health and Social Care Select Committee, Dame Sally said it was now time to build up lots of evidence from 'gold standard' scientific studies so that the products could be considered for licensing and moved to "their rightful place in medicine."

She called for industry to play a leading role in funding these trials.

Towards the end of 2018 cannabis was reclassified to allow some cannabis-derived medicines to be prescribed by specialist doctors in limited situations. The regulatory change came after a review by Prof Davies, who concluded that there were some clinical benefits to medicinal cannabis products.

However, the Health and Social Care Select Committee heard that this move raised the expectations of some patients and families who had hoped to be prescribed the products.

Peter Carroll, of the campaign group End Our Pain, said he was "shocked and horrified" that few patients had benefited so far - including children with severe epilepsy whose parents were currently sourcing the drugs elsewhere.

He said waiting years for randomised control trials to finish was "absurd" and argued that there needed to be a broader view of evidence - including the experiences of multiple families.

Speaking at the committee, Prof Mike Barnes, Chair of the Medical Cannabis Clinicians' Society, said standard pharmaceutical trials could not be easily applied to cannabis, as it is not a single molecule that can be compared to a placebo or a dummy pill.

He said a range of approaches needed to be taken when considering the evidence.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is expected to issue guidelines to specialist doctors in October, which the NHS will use to decide whether it will eventually fund the drug routinely for some patients.