Cannabis based medications (FOI)

Request

Could you please tell me:

How many people, if any, were / are licensed to smoke Cannabis or use drugs containing Cannabis in any form in Jersey for the calendar or financial years (whichever is easier for you) 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 so far.

How many prescriptions were written for drugs, if any, which contained cannabis in any form in Jersey for the calendar, or financial years (whichever is easier for you) 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 so far.

Any details you can give me about the specific drugs prescribed.

Could you also provide the names of any pharmacists, pharmacies or other named persons authorised to import, possess and supply drugs containing cannabis in any form currently.

Response

The smoking of cannabis is illegal in Jersey and under current legislation it is not possible to grant any licences to permit this for any reason. Therefore, no individuals have been licensed to smoke cannabis.

The only cannabis based products available for doctors to prescribe are Sativex and nabilone. As these are only available on private prescription there are no centralised records of any prescriptions available. Any such records will be held by the prescribing doctor and the pharmacy dispensing the Sativex or nabilone. It is not therefore possible to provide a figure for the number of prescriptions written.

All pharmacies are licensed to import Sativex and nabilone. Any supply must be from a pharmacy in accordance with a doctor’s prescription.

Sativex and nabilone are licensed medicinal products which have undergone clinical trials to demonstrate their safety and effectiveness. Sativex is only licensed to treat spasticity in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis and nabilone is only licensed to treat nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing chemotherapy after other treatments have failed.

The importation, possession and supply of cannabis is unlawful other than for the cannabis based medicines Sativex and nabilone.