Business of Cannabis reports
In a letter published on 2 June, Minister of State for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention, Dame Diana Johnson, set out the next three-year priorities for the ACMD including carrying out a review of the current evidence and publishing new recommendations for CBPMs.
As well as reviewing whether the law change in 2018 has had the ‘desired impact’, the ACMD has been tasked with identifying any ‘unintended consequences which were not anticipated at the time of implementation’ and making ‘recommendations on how to mitigate these’.
This includes, according to Dame Johnson, ‘any inhibiting effect’ that the availability of private prescriptions has had on the ‘incentive to conduct clinical trials to develop safe, effective and cost-effective products for use via the NHS’.
Action is needed, not more analysis
The upcoming review has been welcomed as ‘timely’ and ‘much-needed’ by bosses at the industry trade body the Cannabis Trades Association, which urged the ACMD to consider ‘patient access, real-world data, prescriber confidence, and regulatory clarity’ as key priorities.
However, others pointed out that the ACMD has already provided comprehensive, evidence-based solutions in reports from 2018, 2020, and most recently in 2024.
Writing to Dame Johnson in response to the commission, Professor Trevor Jones CBE FMedSci and chair of the Cannabis Research and Development Group (CRDG) highlighted how in February 2024, the ACMD published recommendations following a review of the ‘barriers to research’ on controlled drugs following a request from Home Office Minister Chris Philp MP in late 2022.
Read the full report
ACMD 3-year work programme 2025 to 2028: commissioning letter
Letter from Minister Johnson to the Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) setting out the priorities for ACMD’s work programme.
Documents
Details
This letter from Minister Johnson to the Chair of the ACMD sets out the Minister’s priorities for the ACMD’s next 3-year work programme.
