Sir, – The Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill 2016 passed its second reading in the Dáil on December 1st and will proceed to committee stage.
Readers of this paper deserve to know the facts around this important issue – facts not found in the report by your health correspondent, Paul Cullen ("No good evidence for legalising medicinal cannabis", December 2nd).
On September 13th the report of the UK all-party parliamentary group on drug policy reform recommended that the UK should reschedule cannabis from schedule one (no accepted medical use) to schedule four (low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence). According to the report, GPs could prescribe cannabis for treating chronic pain and a list of disorders including fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis.
The author of the report, Mike Barnes, professor of neurological rehabilitation, presented his findings in Dublin the following day at an international medical cannabis conference.
The report states that “it has been discovered that the human brain and other organs contain naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors as well [as] chemicals that bind to those receptors. This is called the endocannabinoid system. It is known that the endocannabinoid system has a range of important natural functions, including modulation of pain, control of movement, protection of nerve cells and a role in natural brain adaptability (plasticity), as well as a role in various metabolic, immune and inflammatory processes and a possible role in the control of tumour growth”.
This is light years away from anything hinted at by Mr Cullen.– Yours, etc,
EMMETT MARKS
Hemp Cooperative Ireland,
Dublin.