Irish Medical Organisation motion contradicts Government argument

People Before Profit TD, Gino Kenny, has said that the passing of a motion at the IMO AGM calling for the government not to limit the  prescription of medicinal cannabis to consultants only was a very timely and welcome development.

The Irish Medical Organisation has today passed a motion calling on the Government to not limit the availability of medicinal cannabis products in any future legislation by restricting their prescription to consultants.

The motion goes on to say that the prescription of these products should be informed by the scientific evidence base like for other medical treatments.

The motion also points to ‘any future legislation’. By this it is clear that the IMO supports legislation supporting access to cannabis for medicinal use on a scientific basis like for any other medical treatment.

Gino Kenny has called for the Minister for Health and the Department of Health to make a statement explaining the rationale for insisting that consultants should be responsible for prescription of cannabis for medicinal use or for excluding conditions such as chronic pain for which there is a strong evidence base.

He said: “This is a very important moment for the cannabis for medicinal use campaign. I welcome this very timely motion by the IMO. This has indirectly undermined the Minister and the Department of Health’s argument against GPs being the ones to prescribe medicinal cannabis. It has also undermined restricting access in legislation to a limited number of named medical conditions and instead promoting a scientific approach of looking to the evidence base like for any other medical treatment.

“This development has seriously called into question the Minister and the Department’s argument. What must be outlined now by the Minister for Health and the Department is how they arrived at their conclusion that consultants should be the people to prescribe cannabis for medical use or that people suffering chronic pain should be excluded.

“It is quite clear now that GPs agree that they are the people with the required expertise to recommend cannabis products for medicinal purposes on a scientific evidence base like for any other medical treatment.”