Ireland’s Medical Cannabis Access Program Sabotaged by Doctors

Peter Reynolds, an advisory board member of the Irish Medical Cannabis Council, expressed his sentiments regarding Ireland’s Medical Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP). It’s been four years since a small number of qualifying patients gained access to the medicine. And there was a recent decision that the cost of medical cannabis will be directly paid by the Department of Health.

However, despite the solid legal framework, the system has yet to take off. Reynolds puts the blame on the country’s healthcare establishments who are hostile toward cannabis and sabotage its acceptance as a medicine.

A Policy Based on Misconceptions

In its stance on medical cannabis, The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) relies on the expertise of a working group in which none of the members seem to have any previous knowledge of the therapeutic potential of the substance.

According to the working group, there is a lack of scientific evidence that cannabis has any medical benefits and there is no data on the safety of its use. This is clearly at odds with the fact that PubMed, the world’s largest database of peer-reviewed medical publications, features over 26,500 entries for cannabis. There are several cannabis-based products that have been approved by FDA, and the flower in its natural form has been legalized for medical use in 36 states in the U.S. and in many countries of the world.

Ireland is one of those countries, but the number of conditions eligible to be treated with cannabis is ridiculously small, and the most common of those, pain, was pointedly excluded from the list.

Failure to Create Ireland's Own Cannabis Industry

Another problem with MCAP is its supply chain. Formerly, patients could buy their medicine in one specific pharmacy in the Netherlands where they had to travel themselves. Now there are four products that qualifying patients can buy locally. These products are imported from countries like Canada, Denmark, and the UK.

Proposals have been made to create Ireland’s own cannabis industry. If adopted, the initiative could have attracted millions in investments and created hundreds of new jobs. However, the hostility toward the substance prevailed, and the country continues to miss out on many excellent opportunities to boost the economy by fostering the growth of a completely new sector.