Ireland’s legislative Health Committee has issued its recommendations for a medical cannabis regime that would see certain products made available to some patients at the lowest cost possible, or even free, according to a report from The Journal. The reduced-cost products would include CBD products such as Epidiolex and the Charlotte’s Web cannabis strain.
The proposals, which must be approved by the Health Products Regulatory Authority, would require that the cost implications of medical cannabis prescription for families be considered including, “the potential to make them free of charge as part of the long-term illness scheme…”
The committee recommendations also include a plan that would allow the use of products with THC if the health agency permits their use, but would standardize the levels of THC found in those products to curb diversion to the illicit market. HRPA could conclude that there is not enough evidence supporting the medical use of THC which would force the topic to be revisited later. Additionally, the committee recommends that authorization, supply, and prescription be “pursued as speedily as possible,” and that long-term medical cannabis user tracking and research is permitted in order to contribute “to the global store of medical knowledge of cannabinoids.”
Earlier this month, the U.K.’s Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency reclassified CBD as medicine.