Medical cannabis will fuel addiction crisis, say doctors (UK)

Daily Mail 27 October 2018
Family First Comment: ‘We are concerned that in the interests of political expediency, this mandate to allow routine prescribing of cannabis for pain relief is premature. That cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain is not supported by the evidence and may be associated with significant harm… ‘We may end up becoming drug dealers inadvertently.’
www.saynopetodope.org.nz/medicinal

The legalisation of medical cannabis next month will lead to a crisis of addiction and crime, leading experts have warned.

Doctors will be able to dish out cannabis oils and other products as of November 1 in England, Scotland and Wales.

However, in a scathing letter, 166 pain consultants from across the UK claim they risk ‘becoming drug dealers inadvertently’.

They warned people are already asking for cannabis from their doctors, and worry they will be exploited by drug dealing gangs if they’re turned down by the NHS.

In the letter, they said they support the law change – but wrote: ‘We have suffered an opioid crisis and foresee history about to repeat

We are concerned that in the interests of political expediency, this mandate to allow routine prescribing of cannabis for pain relief is premature.

‘That cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain is not supported by the evidence and may be associated with significant harm.’

The letter, signed by Dr Rajesh Munglani, a consultant in pain medicine who has a private practice in Cambridge and London, was sent to The Times.

It warned there is not enough evidence cannabis is effective at treating pain and it could put patients at risk of mental health problems.

But campaigners argue patients deserve the right to have medicinal cannabis as an option, as there is evidence in can combat pain.

Dr Munglani, who organised the letter, told The Times: ‘Patients are already demanding they are given medical cannabis.

‘People are coming in and saying, “I’m not interested in any other technique or drugs I just want the cannabis.”

‘We may end up becoming drug dealers inadvertently.’

The experts wrote political convenience in the face of public pressure appears to be one of the main reasons for the law change.

And they worry people may become addicted to cannabis-medicines in the same way the US is suffering an opioid crisis.
READ MORE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6319469/Cannabis-oil-drive-people-addiction-crime-experts-warn.html