Gino Kenny TD welcomes news that cannabis-based products are now available to be prescribed in Ireland
People Before Profit TD for Dublin Mid-West, Gino Kenny, has said that the news that medicinal cannabis products are available now to be prescribed is “a step in the right direction”.
The TD said however that the programme was still too restrictive and needed to include other conditions such as chronic pain. The Medical Cannabis Access Programme stipulates three conditions in which cannabis based products can be prescribed.
He said:
“This represents a step in the right direction for those that have been campaigning for the past four years on getting legal and medical access to cannabis-based products in Ireland.
“A number of cannabis-based products were referenced in the Irish statute book meaning they can be prescribed under the Medical Cannabis Access Programme. This is a significant step in the campaign for access to cannabis-based medicines and for Irish medicine.
“Though welcome the programme needs to include other conditions where these products could be beneficial for a stated condition- such as pain relief for chronic pain.
“It’s three years since the Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill was first debated and passed unanimously in the Dáil. Even though the bill was never fully legislated it had the effect that it changed government policy. It has been a very protracted number of years for campaigners, but this could be the beginning of something much bigger in the future.”
