Children with Epilepsy

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:07 pm on 10 July 2018.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 2:07, 10 July 2018

It's difficult to provide a figure because it depends on the individual, of course, but she does ask an important question. This is tied up, as she will know, in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which is not devolved, either in Wales or in Scotland. So, there are issues there that surround the ability of practitioners to prescribe drugs that are caught up in that Act. We know that cannabis derivatives can play a role in treating some medical conditions. That's why Sativex, of course, is available in Wales. I can say that, on 18 June, the Home Office Minister Nick Hurd, assuming he is still the Home Office Minister, announced plans to establish an expert clinicians panel, led by the UK chief medical officer, to advise Ministers on any applications to prescribe cannabis-based medicines. That panel will consider the merits of each individual case and make a clinical assessment of an exceptional and unmet clinical need. Now, what is not clear to us at the moment is how that will affect us in terms of prescribing. However, the chief pharmaceutical officer, Andrew Evans, is a non-voting member of the panel. So, even though we're talking about a devolved area, because the misuse of drugs isn't a devolved area, we need to make sure that restrictions are removed from London in order for us to be able to prescribe here in Wales. But I do hope that there is a proper examination of the possibilities of cannabis oil and what it might deliver for the welfare of some patients.