Cannabis for medicinal use: what nurses need to know

Cannabis has been legalised for medicinal use in the UK since 2018 and is most often used for pain. Find out who can who can prescribe it and when

Cannabis for medicinal use was legalised in the UK in 2018, following a campaign spearheaded by parents of children with epilepsy whose life-threatening seizures dissipated after taking cannabis oil.

The change in legislation made cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) schedule 2 controlled drugs . Drugs in this category have therapeutic value but are strictly controlled and subject to special requirements relating to their prescription, dispensing, recording and safe custody.

Recent reports revealed that fewer than five NHS patients have been prescribed the medicine , leaving others to either pay privately for