Legalise cannabis?

ozleicester · 23 October 2018

ajthefox · 25 October 2018

Has Canada turned into a cesspit of crime, violence and paranoia yet?

purpleronnie · 25 October 2018

Does anyone know if legalizing drugs actually increases use in the long term?

Because if it doesn't surely there's a strong case to legalize all drugs.

lifted*fox · 26 October 2018

16 hours ago, purpleronnie said:

Does anyone know if legalizing drugs actually increases use in the long term?

Because if it doesn't surely there's a strong case to legalize all drugs.

I don't have time to dig out statistics at this point but I'm pretty certain that legalisation in some instances has actually decreased drug use - especially (obviously) in young people who can no longer attain them through illegal means.

We have approx. 2 million cannabis users (**** knows how they know this figure tbh) in the UK - I very much doubt we'd see a rise in numbers if it were made legal. I'd say 90% of people who want to try drugs have already done so as they are easily and readily available - whether you want weed, pills, mushrooms, acid, etc. Aside from a few 'live by the letter of the law' people who have abstained who might dabble I can't see everyone rushing out to get ****ed up.

27 October 2018

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/medical-cannabis-will-fuel-addiction-crisis-say-doctors-bf7xv8j6b

Medical cannabis will fuel addiction crisis, say doctors

Quote

Pain doctors from almost every specialist clinic in the country have attacked the legalisation of medical cannabis, warning that its routine use will cause an opioid-style crisis of addiction and crime.

In a letter to The Times, some of the country’s leading experts condemn a rush to allow medical cannabis based on “political expediency” rather than medical advice, saying there is little evidence that it works for chronic pain and warning that it will put patients at risk of mental health problems.

Patients are already demanding cannabis when it might worsen their condition and gangs are likely to exploit those in chronic pain as a source of the drug to sell on the streets, 166 specialists say. They warn: “We have suffered an opioid crisis and foresee history about to repeat itself.”

They were accused of prejudice by campaigners who said that patients should be free to see what works for them.

From Thursday hospital specialists will be able to prescribe cannabis products such as oil or resin. However, NHS guidelines on its use will not be ready until next week. Ministers agreed to change the law after a campaign galvanised by the cases of Alfie Dingley and Billy Caldwell, whose epilepsy was eased by the use of cannabis oil.

“We support the change in the law to encourage cannabis research,” the pain experts write. “However, we are concerned that in the interests of political expediency, this mandate to allow routine prescribing of cannabis for pain relief is premature. That cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain is not supported by the evidence and may be associated with significant harm.” The Faculty of Pain Medicine, the professional body for specialist doctors, has backed their concerns about the lack of evidence and side-effects, warning: “The widespread use of high-dose opioids . . . over the last 20 years is already the cause of considerable concern, and it is not difficult to see potential parallels.”

Rajesh Munglani, a pain consultant in London who organised the letter, said: “The feeling is very, very strong out there that this is a bad move. Patients are already demanding they are given medical cannabis. People are coming in and saying , ‘I’m not interested in any other technique or drugs I just want the cannabis.’ We may end up becoming drug dealers inadvertently.”

While there is some evidence that cannabis can help some types of pain, Dr Munglani said evidence is too limited to make it routinely available to millions. Those with chronic pain, which often has an emotional component, may be particularly vulnerable, he fears.

Peter Carroll, director of the campaign group End our Pain, accused doctors of a “cultural objection to medical cannabis”, insisting patients needed the right to have it as an option.

A government spokesman said: “Cannabis-based products for medicinal use will only be prescribed by specialist doctors where there is a clinical need which cannot be met by a licensed medicine. We understand the concerns of doctors who, with patients and families, may be considering the use of medicines which have not demonstrated the standards for safety and efficacy we rightly expect in the UK. Ultimately these are difficult decisions which can only be made by clinicians with patients.”

Sir, We, as a group of pain medicine consultants, are concerned that the Home Office and NHS England propose to allow specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis for chronic pain from next month. We know only too well the unmet burden of chronic pain and that pain is cited by our patients as a frequent reason to take cannabis.

While there are clear limitations in studying the effects of past illicit cannabis use, caution is required, as the evidence suggests that the prescribing of cannabis (containing the psychoactive and addictive tetrahydrocannabinol component) will provide little or no long-term benefit in improving pain and may be associated with significant long-term adverse cognitive and mental-health detriment.

We are also concerned that it will be difficult to deny cannabis prescriptions to patients in pain who might be coerced into diverting cannabis into the community where it will remain illegal and have street value.

We have suffered an opioid crisis and foresee history about to repeat itself. Ironically, the likely cost of medical cannabis will be greater than the saving achieved by the inexplicable decision of NHS England to restrict the use of the clinically effective 5 per cent lidocaine plasters.

We support the change in the law to encourage cannabis research. However, we are concerned that in the interests of political expediency, this mandate to allow prescribing of cannabis for pain relief is premature. That cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain is not supported by the evidence and may be associated with significant harm.

Dr Rajesh Munglani, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Andrew Baranowski, consultant in pain medicine, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Stephen Ward, consultant in pain medicine Brighton and Sussex Hospital Trust; Dr Arun Bhaskar, consultant in pain medicine Imperial College NHS Trust; Dr Cathy Price, consultant in pain medicine St Mary’s Portsmouth Solent NHS Trust; Dr Jonathan Bannister, consultant in pain medicine NHS Tayside Scotland; Dr Ilan Lieberman, consultant in pain medicine University Hospital of South Manchester; Dr Dalvina E Hanu-Cernat, consultant in pain medicine Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham; Dr Pravin Dandegaonkar, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine; Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Sarang Puranik, consultant in pain management and anaesthesia Kingston Hospital, Surrey; Dr Mike W Platt, consultant in pain medicine Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; Dr Jon Valentine, consultant in pain medicine Norwich; Dr Teodor Goroszeniuk, consultant in pain medicine, London W1, UK; Dr Michael Coupe consultant in anaesthesia, pain medicine and intensive care Royal United Hospitals NHS FT; Dr Hadi Bedran, consultant in pain medicine St Georges University Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Karen H Simpson, consultant in pain medicine Leeds; Dr Aditi Ghei, consultant in pain medicine, West Herts NHS Trust; Dr Kiran Koneti, consultant in pain management City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust; Dr Tim McCormick, consultant in pain medicine Oxford pain Management Centre; Dr Sadiq Bhayani, consultant in pain medicine University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust; Dr Nicholas M Hacking, consultant anaesthetist, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Joshua Adedokun, consultant in pain medicine, The Pennine Acute NHS Trust; Dr Neil Collighan, consultant in pain medicine East Kent Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Bela Vadodaria, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management The Hillingdon Hospital; Dr Fraser Duncan, consultant anaesthetist and pain specialist Birmingham; Dr Hoo Kee Tsang, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Richard Gordon-Williams, APT, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr A Tameem, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management Dudley group of hospitals; Dr Marcia Schofield, pain sPecialist West Suffolk NHS Trust Bury St Edmunds; Dr Giancarlo Camilleri, consultant Ashford & St Peter’s Foundation NHS Trust Chertsey; Dr Joseph Azzopardi, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Dick Atkinson, retired consultant in pain medicine Central Sheffield University Hospitals; Dr Basil Almahdi, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Katharine Howells, consultant in pain medicine, RUH Bath NHS Foundation Trust; Dr G Baranidharan, consultant in pain medicine, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Philippa Armstrong, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, York Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Lourdes Gaspar, consultant in pain medicine Orthopaedic Hospital Oswestry; Dr Carolyne Timberlake, consultant in pain medicine Kings College Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Intazar Bashir, consultant in pain medicine Worthing; Dr Mark Sanders,consultant in pain medicine at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital; Dr Andrzej Krol, consultant in pain medicine St George’s Hospital London; Dr Peter Hall, consultant in pain Management York Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Susmita Oomman, consultant in pain and Anaesthetic Withybush General Hospital Hywel Dda NHS Trust; Dr Sue Jeffs, consultant in anaesthesia and pain Management Abergavenny Wales; Dr Murali-Krishnan, consultant in pain medicine Northampton; Dr Sabina Bachtold, ST7 pain medicine (APT)/anaesthesia London; Dr A Ravenscroft, consultant in pain Management Nottingham University Hospitals; Dr Sanjay Kuravinakop , consultant in pain medicine Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust; Dr Nicolas Varela, consultant in pain medicine Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Michael Atayi, consultant in pain medicine George Eliot Hospital; Dr Carl TJ Broadbridge, consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Salisbury District Hospital; Dr Ramy Mottaleb, Kingston NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Richard Sawyer, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management, Oxford University Hospitals NHS foundation Trust; Dr Rajesh Menon, consultant in pain medicine Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust; Dr Jeremy Weinbren, consultant in Anaesthetics and pain medicine Hillingdon Hospital; Dr Paul Rolfe,consultant in pain medicine Cambridge; Dr Brian Culbert, consultant in pain medicine East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Rokas Tamosauskas, consultant in pain medicine Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Dr David Gore ST6 Advanced pain Trainee, Oxford University Hospitals; Dr Manohar Sharma, consultant in pain medicine The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool; Dr Jayne Gallagher, consultant in pain medicine Barts Health Trust London; Dr Raju Bhadresha, consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust; Dr Owen Bodycombe, consultant anaesthesia and pain medicine Gloucestershire Hospital’s NHSFT; Dr Ramy Mottaleb,consultant in pain medicine Kingston NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Christian Egeler, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Swansea ABMU HB; Dr Deepak Malik, consultant in pain Management University Hospitals Birmimgham NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Mohjir Baloch, consultant in pain Management Frimley Park Hospital; Dr Martyna Berwertz, consultant in pain medicine Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Ron Cooper, consultant pain medicine & anaesthesia Causeway Hospital, Coleraine, N Ireland; Dr Ashish Shetty, consultant in pain medicine, University College London Hospitals; Dr S J Law, consultant in pain medicine West Suffolk Hospital; Dr M Mali, consultant in pain medicine Darent Valley Hospital; Dr S James consultant and Lead Clinician Chronic pain Services NHS Lanarkshire; Dr Sarah Aturia,consultant pain and Anaesthetics Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Henriette van Schalkwyk, consultant in pain medicine North Hampshire hospital Basingstoke; Dr Shamim Haider, consultant in pain medicine East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust Colchester & Ipswich; Dr Simon Thomson, consultant in pain medicine and Neuromodulation, Basildon; Dr Danielle Reddi, Locum consultant in pain medicine University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Thomas Samuel, consultant in pain medicine East and North Herts NHS Trust; Dr Arindam De, pain Management consultant University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (UHMB); Dr Evan Weeks, consultant in anaesthesia & pain medicine Addenbrooke’s Hospital, CUHFT; Dr Ravi M Kare, consultant in pain Management and anaesthesia Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals; Dr Niranjan Chogle, consultant in pain medicine Ulster Hospital, Northern Ireland; Dr William Campbell, consultant Emeritus and Past President British pain Society, Ulster Hospital Dundonald; Dr Subramanian Ramani, consultant in pain medicine Northampton General Hospital; Dr Adrian Searle, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Derby; Dr Sameer Gupta, consultant in anaesthesia and pain Management DRG Health Clinic Doncaster; Dr Diana Dickson, Retired consultant in pain medicine, Leeds; Dr Attam Singh, consultant in pain medicine West Hertfordshire NHS Trust; Dr James Wilson, consultant in anaesthesia & pain medicine Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust; Dr Sharmila Edekar, pain Specialist Glangwili Hospital Hywel Dda HB; Dr Bernard Nawarski, consultant in pain medicine Frimley Health; Dr Sridevi Ramachandran, consultant in pain medicine, Anglian Community Enterprise; Dr John Wiles, consultant in pain medicine The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust; Dr A T Arasu Rayen, consultant in pain Management, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust; Dr John Titterington, consultant pain Management, Leeds Teaching Hospitals; Dr Deepak Subramani, consultant in anaesthesia and pain Management George Eliot Hospital; Dr Ian D Goodall, consultant in pain medicine, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Seshu Babu Tatikola, consultant In pain medicine & Anaesthesia, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS trust; Dr Kevin Markham, consultant in pain medicine Surrey Heath Community pain Clinic; Dr Husham Al-Shather ,consultant in pain medicine Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust; Dr K.Dhandapani, York Hospitals NHS foundation Trust York; Dr Chris Naylor, consultant in pain medicine, Southend University Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Sally Ghazaleh, Locum pain consultant Royal Berkshire hospital; Dr Bala Veemarajan ,Sherwood Forest Hosp NHS trust; Dr GR Towlerton, consultant in pain medicine, Chelsea & Westmister Hospital; Dr Mandar Joshi, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board; Dr Ashish Wagle,consultant Anaesthetist and pain specialist Cwm Taf University Health Board Wales; Dr A Doger, consultant University Hospitals Birmingham & Associate Medical Director John Taylor Hospice; Dr Salmin Aseri, consultant in pain medicine & Anaesthesia; St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr George Harrison, consultant in pain medicine, Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital; Dr Rashmi Poddar, pain consultant Kettering General Hospital; Dr Ashish Gulve; consultant in pain Management The James Cook University Hospital Middlesbrough; Dr Yaser Mehrez,consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Victoria Tidman, consultant in pain medicine University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Tacson Fernandez,consultant in pain medicine Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital; Dr Kim Carter, consultant Anaesthetist & pain Northampton General Hospital; Dr Anand Natarajan, consultant in pain Management Wirral University Teaching Hospitals; Dr Dominic Aldington consultant in pain medicine Royal Hampshire County Hospital; Dr Emma Chojnowska, consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Chichester; Dr Liza Tharakan, consultant in pain medicine and Anaesthesia; Royal Orthopaedic Hospital; Dr Moein Tavakkoli, consultant in pain medicine University College London Hopsital (NHNN); Dr Manojit Sinha ,consultant pain medicine King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Sanjay Varma,consultant in pain Management Sunderland Royal Hosptal Sunderland; Dr Shravan Tirunagari, consultant anaesthesia and pain Management, East and North NHS Trust Hospitals; Dr Monica Chogle, consultant in Anaesthetics and pain Northern Health and Social Care Trust Northern Ireland; Dr Subhash Kandikattu, consultant in pain Management, Peterborough City Hospital North West Anglia NHS FT; Dr Jan Rudiger, consultant in Anaesthetics and pain medicine, Redhill; Dr Arun Sehgal, consultant in pain medicine and Anaesthesia,Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals; Dr Matthew LLoyd Hamilton, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London Dr Athmaja Thottungal, consultant and Trust Clinical lead for pain management, East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Rubina Ahmad, Title: Locum consultant, work place; Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust: Dr Sean White, consultant in pain medicine, London pain Service; Dr Anup Bagade, consultant in pain medicine East and North Herts NHS Trust; Dr Tom Smith, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Jason Brooks, consultant pain medicine Belfast Health and Social Care Trust; Dr Vinay Anjana Reddy, consultant in pain and anaesthesia University Hospital Lewisham; Dr S Murugesan, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management, Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Nancy Cox, APT, University Hospital Coventry and Warwick NHS Trust; Dr Ashwin Mallya, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospital NHS Trust; Dr M Serpell, consultant & Senior Lecturer in pain medicine & anaesthesia Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS; Dr Srinivas Bathula, consultant in pain Management Heart of England NHS Trust University Hospital, Birmingham; Dr Ann-Katrin Fritz, consultant Alain Management Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital; Dr Ashok Puttappa, consultant in anaesthesia and Chronic pain University Hospital North Midlands Stoke on Trent; Dr Tom Bendinger, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine Sheffield Teaching Hospitals; Dr Sumit Gulati,consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Walton Centre NHS FT, Liverpool UK;Dr Arun Natarajan, consultant in pain medicine Hillingdon Hospital; Dr Katrina Dick, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine Ayrshire and Arran; Dr Shefali Kadambande , consultant in anaesthesia and pain management University Hospital of Wales; Dr Nick Roberts, consultant in pain Management Kettering General Hospital; Dr Somnath Bagchi, consultant in pain medicine University Hospitals Plymouth UK; Dr Lakshman Radhakrishnan, consultant in pain management Royal Lancaster Infirmary; Dr Stephan Weber, consultant in pain Management BMI Goring Hall Hospital; Dr Kiran Sachane consultant in pain medicine NHS Lothian pain Service, Edinburgh Scotland; Dr James Blackburn, consultant in pain medicine, St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust; Dr Srinivas Bathula, consultant in pain medicine, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS FT; Dr Ravi Srinivasagopalan, consultant in pain Management and anaesthesia The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS FT; Dr John Goddard, consultant in Paediatric pain medicine Sheffield Children’s Hospital; Dr Chad Taylor, pain medicine consultant, Jersey (Channel Islands UK); Dr Udaya Kumar Chakka, consultant in pain medicine, Coventry; Dr Pallav Desai, Neuromodulation Fellow, James Cook University Hospital; Dr Azfer Usmani, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust; Dr Neal Evans, consultant in pain medicine Bucks Hosps NHS Trust; Dr Kanar Al-Quragooli, Associate Specialist in anaesthesia and pain medicine , Manchester FT; Dr Valentina Jansen, consultant in pain and anaesthetics Glangwili General Hospital Hywel Dda NHS Trust; Professor Emeritus Sam H Ahmedzai, University of Sheffield; Dr Mike Hudspith, consultant in pain medicine Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital;

Countryfox · 27 October 2018

Just now, MattP said:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/medical-cannabis-will-fuel-addiction-crisis-say-doctors-bf7xv8j6b

Medical cannabis will fuel addiction crisis, say doctors

Sir, We, as a group of pain medicine consultants, are concerned that the Home Office and NHS England propose to allow specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis for chronic pain from next month. We know only too well the unmet burden of chronic pain and that pain is cited by our patients as a frequent reason to take cannabis.

While there are clear limitations in studying the effects of past illicit cannabis use, caution is required, as the evidence suggests that the prescribing of cannabis (containing the psychoactive and addictive tetrahydrocannabinol component) will provide little or no long-term benefit in improving pain and may be associated with significant long-term adverse cognitive and mental-health detriment.

We are also concerned that it will be difficult to deny cannabis prescriptions to patients in pain who might be coerced into diverting cannabis into the community where it will remain illegal and have street value.

We have suffered an opioid crisis and foresee history about to repeat itself. Ironically, the likely cost of medical cannabis will be greater than the saving achieved by the inexplicable decision of NHS England to restrict the use of the clinically effective 5 per cent lidocaine plasters.

We support the change in the law to encourage cannabis research. However, we are concerned that in the interests of political expediency, this mandate to allow prescribing of cannabis for pain relief is premature. That cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain is not supported by the evidence and may be associated with significant harm.

Dr Rajesh Munglani, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Andrew Baranowski, consultant in pain medicine, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Stephen Ward, consultant in pain medicine Brighton and Sussex Hospital Trust; Dr Arun Bhaskar, consultant in pain medicine Imperial College NHS Trust; Dr Cathy Price, consultant in pain medicine St Mary’s Portsmouth Solent NHS Trust; Dr Jonathan Bannister, consultant in pain medicine NHS Tayside Scotland; Dr Ilan Lieberman, consultant in pain medicine University Hospital of South Manchester; Dr Dalvina E Hanu-Cernat, consultant in pain medicine Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham; Dr Pravin Dandegaonkar, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine; Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Sarang Puranik, consultant in pain management and anaesthesia Kingston Hospital, Surrey; Dr Mike W Platt, consultant in pain medicine Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; Dr Jon Valentine, consultant in pain medicine Norwich; Dr Teodor Goroszeniuk, consultant in pain medicine, London W1, UK; Dr Michael Coupe consultant in anaesthesia, pain medicine and intensive care Royal United Hospitals NHS FT; Dr Hadi Bedran, consultant in pain medicine St Georges University Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Karen H Simpson, consultant in pain medicine Leeds; Dr Aditi Ghei, consultant in pain medicine, West Herts NHS Trust; Dr Kiran Koneti, consultant in pain management City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust; Dr Tim McCormick, consultant in pain medicine Oxford pain Management Centre; Dr Sadiq Bhayani, consultant in pain medicine University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust; Dr Nicholas M Hacking, consultant anaesthetist, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Joshua Adedokun, consultant in pain medicine, The Pennine Acute NHS Trust; Dr Neil Collighan, consultant in pain medicine East Kent Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Bela Vadodaria, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management The Hillingdon Hospital; Dr Fraser Duncan, consultant anaesthetist and pain specialist Birmingham; Dr Hoo Kee Tsang, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Richard Gordon-Williams, APT, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr A Tameem, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management Dudley group of hospitals; Dr Marcia Schofield, pain sPecialist West Suffolk NHS Trust Bury St Edmunds; Dr Giancarlo Camilleri, consultant Ashford & St Peter’s Foundation NHS Trust Chertsey; Dr Joseph Azzopardi, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Dick Atkinson, retired consultant in pain medicine Central Sheffield University Hospitals; Dr Basil Almahdi, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Katharine Howells, consultant in pain medicine, RUH Bath NHS Foundation Trust; Dr G Baranidharan, consultant in pain medicine, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Philippa Armstrong, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, York Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Lourdes Gaspar, consultant in pain medicine Orthopaedic Hospital Oswestry; Dr Carolyne Timberlake, consultant in pain medicine Kings College Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Intazar Bashir, consultant in pain medicine Worthing; Dr Mark Sanders,consultant in pain medicine at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital; Dr Andrzej Krol, consultant in pain medicine St George’s Hospital London; Dr Peter Hall, consultant in pain Management York Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Susmita Oomman, consultant in pain and Anaesthetic Withybush General Hospital Hywel Dda NHS Trust; Dr Sue Jeffs, consultant in anaesthesia and pain Management Abergavenny Wales; Dr Murali-Krishnan, consultant in pain medicine Northampton; Dr Sabina Bachtold, ST7 pain medicine (APT)/anaesthesia London; Dr A Ravenscroft, consultant in pain Management Nottingham University Hospitals; Dr Sanjay Kuravinakop , consultant in pain medicine Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust; Dr Nicolas Varela, consultant in pain medicine Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Michael Atayi, consultant in pain medicine George Eliot Hospital; Dr Carl TJ Broadbridge, consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Salisbury District Hospital; Dr Ramy Mottaleb, Kingston NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Richard Sawyer, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management, Oxford University Hospitals NHS foundation Trust; Dr Rajesh Menon, consultant in pain medicine Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust; Dr Jeremy Weinbren, consultant in Anaesthetics and pain medicine Hillingdon Hospital; Dr Paul Rolfe,consultant in pain medicine Cambridge; Dr Brian Culbert, consultant in pain medicine East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Rokas Tamosauskas, consultant in pain medicine Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Dr David Gore ST6 Advanced pain Trainee, Oxford University Hospitals; Dr Manohar Sharma, consultant in pain medicine The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool; Dr Jayne Gallagher, consultant in pain medicine Barts Health Trust London; Dr Raju Bhadresha, consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust; Dr Owen Bodycombe, consultant anaesthesia and pain medicine Gloucestershire Hospital’s NHSFT; Dr Ramy Mottaleb,consultant in pain medicine Kingston NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Christian Egeler, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Swansea ABMU HB; Dr Deepak Malik, consultant in pain Management University Hospitals Birmimgham NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Mohjir Baloch, consultant in pain Management Frimley Park Hospital; Dr Martyna Berwertz, consultant in pain medicine Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Ron Cooper, consultant pain medicine & anaesthesia Causeway Hospital, Coleraine, N Ireland; Dr Ashish Shetty, consultant in pain medicine, University College London Hospitals; Dr S J Law, consultant in pain medicine West Suffolk Hospital; Dr M Mali, consultant in pain medicine Darent Valley Hospital; Dr S James consultant and Lead Clinician Chronic pain Services NHS Lanarkshire; Dr Sarah Aturia,consultant pain and Anaesthetics Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Henriette van Schalkwyk, consultant in pain medicine North Hampshire hospital Basingstoke; Dr Shamim Haider, consultant in pain medicine East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust Colchester & Ipswich; Dr Simon Thomson, consultant in pain medicine and Neuromodulation, Basildon; Dr Danielle Reddi, Locum consultant in pain medicine University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Thomas Samuel, consultant in pain medicine East and North Herts NHS Trust; Dr Arindam De, pain Management consultant University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (UHMB); Dr Evan Weeks, consultant in anaesthesia & pain medicine Addenbrooke’s Hospital, CUHFT; Dr Ravi M Kare, consultant in pain Management and anaesthesia Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals; Dr Niranjan Chogle, consultant in pain medicine Ulster Hospital, Northern Ireland; Dr William Campbell, consultant Emeritus and Past President British pain Society, Ulster Hospital Dundonald; Dr Subramanian Ramani, consultant in pain medicine Northampton General Hospital; Dr Adrian Searle, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Derby; Dr Sameer Gupta, consultant in anaesthesia and pain Management DRG Health Clinic Doncaster; Dr Diana Dickson, Retired consultant in pain medicine, Leeds; Dr Attam Singh, consultant in pain medicine West Hertfordshire NHS Trust; Dr James Wilson, consultant in anaesthesia & pain medicine Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust; Dr Sharmila Edekar, pain Specialist Glangwili Hospital Hywel Dda HB; Dr Bernard Nawarski, consultant in pain medicine Frimley Health; Dr Sridevi Ramachandran, consultant in pain medicine, Anglian Community Enterprise; Dr John Wiles, consultant in pain medicine The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust; Dr A T Arasu Rayen, consultant in pain Management, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust; Dr John Titterington, consultant pain Management, Leeds Teaching Hospitals; Dr Deepak Subramani, consultant in anaesthesia and pain Management George Eliot Hospital; Dr Ian D Goodall, consultant in pain medicine, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Seshu Babu Tatikola, consultant In pain medicine & Anaesthesia, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS trust; Dr Kevin Markham, consultant in pain medicine Surrey Heath Community pain Clinic; Dr Husham Al-Shather ,consultant in pain medicine Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust; Dr K.Dhandapani, York Hospitals NHS foundation Trust York; Dr Chris Naylor, consultant in pain medicine, Southend University Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Sally Ghazaleh, Locum pain consultant Royal Berkshire hospital; Dr Bala Veemarajan ,Sherwood Forest Hosp NHS trust; Dr GR Towlerton, consultant in pain medicine, Chelsea & Westmister Hospital; Dr Mandar Joshi, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board; Dr Ashish Wagle,consultant Anaesthetist and pain specialist Cwm Taf University Health Board Wales; Dr A Doger, consultant University Hospitals Birmingham & Associate Medical Director John Taylor Hospice; Dr Salmin Aseri, consultant in pain medicine & Anaesthesia; St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr George Harrison, consultant in pain medicine, Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital; Dr Rashmi Poddar, pain consultant Kettering General Hospital; Dr Ashish Gulve; consultant in pain Management The James Cook University Hospital Middlesbrough; Dr Yaser Mehrez,consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Victoria Tidman, consultant in pain medicine University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Tacson Fernandez,consultant in pain medicine Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital; Dr Kim Carter, consultant Anaesthetist & pain Northampton General Hospital; Dr Anand Natarajan, consultant in pain Management Wirral University Teaching Hospitals; Dr Dominic Aldington consultant in pain medicine Royal Hampshire County Hospital; Dr Emma Chojnowska, consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Chichester; Dr Liza Tharakan, consultant in pain medicine and Anaesthesia; Royal Orthopaedic Hospital; Dr Moein Tavakkoli, consultant in pain medicine University College London Hopsital (NHNN); Dr Manojit Sinha ,consultant pain medicine King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Sanjay Varma,consultant in pain Management Sunderland Royal Hosptal Sunderland; Dr Shravan Tirunagari, consultant anaesthesia and pain Management, East and North NHS Trust Hospitals; Dr Monica Chogle, consultant in Anaesthetics and pain Northern Health and Social Care Trust Northern Ireland; Dr Subhash Kandikattu, consultant in pain Management, Peterborough City Hospital North West Anglia NHS FT; Dr Jan Rudiger, consultant in Anaesthetics and pain medicine, Redhill; Dr Arun Sehgal, consultant in pain medicine and Anaesthesia,Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals; Dr Matthew LLoyd Hamilton, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London Dr Athmaja Thottungal, consultant and Trust Clinical lead for pain management, East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Rubina Ahmad, Title: Locum consultant, work place; Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust: Dr Sean White, consultant in pain medicine, London pain Service; Dr Anup Bagade, consultant in pain medicine East and North Herts NHS Trust; Dr Tom Smith, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Jason Brooks, consultant pain medicine Belfast Health and Social Care Trust; Dr Vinay Anjana Reddy, consultant in pain and anaesthesia University Hospital Lewisham; Dr S Murugesan, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management, Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Nancy Cox, APT, University Hospital Coventry and Warwick NHS Trust; Dr Ashwin Mallya, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospital NHS Trust; Dr M Serpell, consultant & Senior Lecturer in pain medicine & anaesthesia Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS; Dr Srinivas Bathula, consultant in pain Management Heart of England NHS Trust University Hospital, Birmingham; Dr Ann-Katrin Fritz, consultant Alain Management Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital; Dr Ashok Puttappa, consultant in anaesthesia and Chronic pain University Hospital North Midlands Stoke on Trent; Dr Tom Bendinger, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine Sheffield Teaching Hospitals; Dr Sumit Gulati,consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Walton Centre NHS FT, Liverpool UK;Dr Arun Natarajan, consultant in pain medicine Hillingdon Hospital; Dr Katrina Dick, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine Ayrshire and Arran; Dr Shefali Kadambande , consultant in anaesthesia and pain management University Hospital of Wales; Dr Nick Roberts, consultant in pain Management Kettering General Hospital; Dr Somnath Bagchi, consultant in pain medicine University Hospitals Plymouth UK; Dr Lakshman Radhakrishnan, consultant in pain management Royal Lancaster Infirmary; Dr Stephan Weber, consultant in pain Management BMI Goring Hall Hospital; Dr Kiran Sachane consultant in pain medicine NHS Lothian pain Service, Edinburgh Scotland; Dr James Blackburn, consultant in pain medicine, St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust; Dr Srinivas Bathula, consultant in pain medicine, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS FT; Dr Ravi Srinivasagopalan, consultant in pain Management and anaesthesia The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS FT; Dr John Goddard, consultant in Paediatric pain medicine Sheffield Children’s Hospital; Dr Chad Taylor, pain medicine consultant, Jersey (Channel Islands UK); Dr Udaya Kumar Chakka, consultant in pain medicine, Coventry; Dr Pallav Desai, Neuromodulation Fellow, James Cook University Hospital; Dr Azfer Usmani, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust; Dr Neal Evans, consultant in pain medicine Bucks Hosps NHS Trust; Dr Kanar Al-Quragooli, Associate Specialist in anaesthesia and pain medicine , Manchester FT; Dr Valentina Jansen, consultant in pain and anaesthetics Glangwili General Hospital Hywel Dda NHS Trust; Professor Emeritus Sam H Ahmedzai, University of Sheffield; Dr Mike Hudspith, consultant in pain medicine Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital;

Jeez Matt ! ... I’ve only just finished reading your last bloody post from yesterday !! ....

Buce · 27 October 2018

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-46002763

A seven-year-old boy who was at the heart of a public outcry over medicinal cannabis legalisation is doing "amazingly well", his mother has said.

Alfie Dingley, from Kenilworth, was granted a special licence in June to use medicinal cannabis oil.

He has a rare form of epilepsy that causes up to 150 seizures a month but his mother, Hannah Deacon, said he has not had any seizures since July.

From next week doctors will be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis in the UK.

"He's amazingly well," Ms Deacon told the BBC, continuing that "he has not had any seizures" since his cannabis oil was reintroduced.

"He's going to school every day, he's riding a horse, he's riding a bike. He has a pretty much normal life," she said.

Alfie's family petitioned the government in March after they found his condition improved when he was given a cannabis-based medication in the Netherlands, where it is legal, in September 2017.

In July, the home secretary announced plans to allow specialist doctors in the UK to legally prescribe cannabis-derived medicinal products.

"In eight months we've moved hugely," Ms Deacon said.

Ms Deacon said her son was "coming on amazingly" since he was granted a licence for its use.

She said she "cried" through most of Alfie's parents' evening on Wednesday, "because his teachers said he's just doing so well, we can't keep up with him".

"It's extremely overwhelming," she said.

"When I walk him to school I know how lucky I am."

The new legislation means products that meet safety and quality standards are to be made legal for patients with an "exceptional clinical need".

Carl the Llama · 27 October 2018

@MattP Are we allowed to trust experts again, then?

In all honesty though you would expect professionals to know the difference between medical and recreational strains, the latter being generally higher in THC and lower in CBD (a fact often complained about by people I smoked with).

ozleicester · 27 October 2018

I thought the tories were all about people taking responsibility for themselves, you, cutting red tape, freeing people to make their own decisions.

lifted*fox · 25 November 2018

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Mike Oxlong · 25 November 2018

The world’s gone to pot.

whoareyaaa · 25 November 2018

On ‎27‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 13:39, MattP said:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/medical-cannabis-will-fuel-addiction-crisis-say-doctors-bf7xv8j6b

Medical cannabis will fuel addiction crisis, say doctors

Sir, We, as a group of pain medicine consultants, are concerned that the Home Office and NHS England propose to allow specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis for chronic pain from next month. We know only too well the unmet burden of chronic pain and that pain is cited by our patients as a frequent reason to take cannabis.

While there are clear limitations in studying the effects of past illicit cannabis use, caution is required, as the evidence suggests that the prescribing of cannabis (containing the psychoactive and addictive tetrahydrocannabinol component) will provide little or no long-term benefit in improving pain and may be associated with significant long-term adverse cognitive and mental-health detriment.

We are also concerned that it will be difficult to deny cannabis prescriptions to patients in pain who might be coerced into diverting cannabis into the community where it will remain illegal and have street value.

We have suffered an opioid crisis and foresee history about to repeat itself. Ironically, the likely cost of medical cannabis will be greater than the saving achieved by the inexplicable decision of NHS England to restrict the use of the clinically effective 5 per cent lidocaine plasters.

We support the change in the law to encourage cannabis research. However, we are concerned that in the interests of political expediency, this mandate to allow prescribing of cannabis for pain relief is premature. That cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain is not supported by the evidence and may be associated with significant harm.

Dr Rajesh Munglani, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Andrew Baranowski, consultant in pain medicine, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Stephen Ward, consultant in pain medicine Brighton and Sussex Hospital Trust; Dr Arun Bhaskar, consultant in pain medicine Imperial College NHS Trust; Dr Cathy Price, consultant in pain medicine St Mary’s Portsmouth Solent NHS Trust; Dr Jonathan Bannister, consultant in pain medicine NHS Tayside Scotland; Dr Ilan Lieberman, consultant in pain medicine University Hospital of South Manchester; Dr Dalvina E Hanu-Cernat, consultant in pain medicine Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham; Dr Pravin Dandegaonkar, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine; Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Sarang Puranik, consultant in pain management and anaesthesia Kingston Hospital, Surrey; Dr Mike W Platt, consultant in pain medicine Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; Dr Jon Valentine, consultant in pain medicine Norwich; Dr Teodor Goroszeniuk, consultant in pain medicine, London W1, UK; Dr Michael Coupe consultant in anaesthesia, pain medicine and intensive care Royal United Hospitals NHS FT; Dr Hadi Bedran, consultant in pain medicine St Georges University Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Karen H Simpson, consultant in pain medicine Leeds; Dr Aditi Ghei, consultant in pain medicine, West Herts NHS Trust; Dr Kiran Koneti, consultant in pain management City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust; Dr Tim McCormick, consultant in pain medicine Oxford pain Management Centre; Dr Sadiq Bhayani, consultant in pain medicine University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust; Dr Nicholas M Hacking, consultant anaesthetist, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Joshua Adedokun, consultant in pain medicine, The Pennine Acute NHS Trust; Dr Neil Collighan, consultant in pain medicine East Kent Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Bela Vadodaria, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management The Hillingdon Hospital; Dr Fraser Duncan, consultant anaesthetist and pain specialist Birmingham; Dr Hoo Kee Tsang, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Richard Gordon-Williams, APT, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr A Tameem, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management Dudley group of hospitals; Dr Marcia Schofield, pain sPecialist West Suffolk NHS Trust Bury St Edmunds; Dr Giancarlo Camilleri, consultant Ashford & St Peter’s Foundation NHS Trust Chertsey; Dr Joseph Azzopardi, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Dick Atkinson, retired consultant in pain medicine Central Sheffield University Hospitals; Dr Basil Almahdi, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Katharine Howells, consultant in pain medicine, RUH Bath NHS Foundation Trust; Dr G Baranidharan, consultant in pain medicine, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Philippa Armstrong, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, York Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Lourdes Gaspar, consultant in pain medicine Orthopaedic Hospital Oswestry; Dr Carolyne Timberlake, consultant in pain medicine Kings College Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Intazar Bashir, consultant in pain medicine Worthing; Dr Mark Sanders,consultant in pain medicine at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital; Dr Andrzej Krol, consultant in pain medicine St George’s Hospital London; Dr Peter Hall, consultant in pain Management York Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Susmita Oomman, consultant in pain and Anaesthetic Withybush General Hospital Hywel Dda NHS Trust; Dr Sue Jeffs, consultant in anaesthesia and pain Management Abergavenny Wales; Dr Murali-Krishnan, consultant in pain medicine Northampton; Dr Sabina Bachtold, ST7 pain medicine (APT)/anaesthesia London; Dr A Ravenscroft, consultant in pain Management Nottingham University Hospitals; Dr Sanjay Kuravinakop , consultant in pain medicine Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust; Dr Nicolas Varela, consultant in pain medicine Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Michael Atayi, consultant in pain medicine George Eliot Hospital; Dr Carl TJ Broadbridge, consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Salisbury District Hospital; Dr Ramy Mottaleb, Kingston NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Richard Sawyer, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management, Oxford University Hospitals NHS foundation Trust; Dr Rajesh Menon, consultant in pain medicine Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust; Dr Jeremy Weinbren, consultant in Anaesthetics and pain medicine Hillingdon Hospital; Dr Paul Rolfe,consultant in pain medicine Cambridge; Dr Brian Culbert, consultant in pain medicine East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Rokas Tamosauskas, consultant in pain medicine Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Dr David Gore ST6 Advanced pain Trainee, Oxford University Hospitals; Dr Manohar Sharma, consultant in pain medicine The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool; Dr Jayne Gallagher, consultant in pain medicine Barts Health Trust London; Dr Raju Bhadresha, consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust; Dr Owen Bodycombe, consultant anaesthesia and pain medicine Gloucestershire Hospital’s NHSFT; Dr Ramy Mottaleb,consultant in pain medicine Kingston NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Christian Egeler, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Swansea ABMU HB; Dr Deepak Malik, consultant in pain Management University Hospitals Birmimgham NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Mohjir Baloch, consultant in pain Management Frimley Park Hospital; Dr Martyna Berwertz, consultant in pain medicine Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Ron Cooper, consultant pain medicine & anaesthesia Causeway Hospital, Coleraine, N Ireland; Dr Ashish Shetty, consultant in pain medicine, University College London Hospitals; Dr S J Law, consultant in pain medicine West Suffolk Hospital; Dr M Mali, consultant in pain medicine Darent Valley Hospital; Dr S James consultant and Lead Clinician Chronic pain Services NHS Lanarkshire; Dr Sarah Aturia,consultant pain and Anaesthetics Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Henriette van Schalkwyk, consultant in pain medicine North Hampshire hospital Basingstoke; Dr Shamim Haider, consultant in pain medicine East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust Colchester & Ipswich; Dr Simon Thomson, consultant in pain medicine and Neuromodulation, Basildon; Dr Danielle Reddi, Locum consultant in pain medicine University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Thomas Samuel, consultant in pain medicine East and North Herts NHS Trust; Dr Arindam De, pain Management consultant University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (UHMB); Dr Evan Weeks, consultant in anaesthesia & pain medicine Addenbrooke’s Hospital, CUHFT; Dr Ravi M Kare, consultant in pain Management and anaesthesia Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals; Dr Niranjan Chogle, consultant in pain medicine Ulster Hospital, Northern Ireland; Dr William Campbell, consultant Emeritus and Past President British pain Society, Ulster Hospital Dundonald; Dr Subramanian Ramani, consultant in pain medicine Northampton General Hospital; Dr Adrian Searle, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Derby; Dr Sameer Gupta, consultant in anaesthesia and pain Management DRG Health Clinic Doncaster; Dr Diana Dickson, Retired consultant in pain medicine, Leeds; Dr Attam Singh, consultant in pain medicine West Hertfordshire NHS Trust; Dr James Wilson, consultant in anaesthesia & pain medicine Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust; Dr Sharmila Edekar, pain Specialist Glangwili Hospital Hywel Dda HB; Dr Bernard Nawarski, consultant in pain medicine Frimley Health; Dr Sridevi Ramachandran, consultant in pain medicine, Anglian Community Enterprise; Dr John Wiles, consultant in pain medicine The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust; Dr A T Arasu Rayen, consultant in pain Management, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust; Dr John Titterington, consultant pain Management, Leeds Teaching Hospitals; Dr Deepak Subramani, consultant in anaesthesia and pain Management George Eliot Hospital; Dr Ian D Goodall, consultant in pain medicine, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Seshu Babu Tatikola, consultant In pain medicine & Anaesthesia, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS trust; Dr Kevin Markham, consultant in pain medicine Surrey Heath Community pain Clinic; Dr Husham Al-Shather ,consultant in pain medicine Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust; Dr K.Dhandapani, York Hospitals NHS foundation Trust York; Dr Chris Naylor, consultant in pain medicine, Southend University Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Sally Ghazaleh, Locum pain consultant Royal Berkshire hospital; Dr Bala Veemarajan ,Sherwood Forest Hosp NHS trust; Dr GR Towlerton, consultant in pain medicine, Chelsea & Westmister Hospital; Dr Mandar Joshi, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board; Dr Ashish Wagle,consultant Anaesthetist and pain specialist Cwm Taf University Health Board Wales; Dr A Doger, consultant University Hospitals Birmingham & Associate Medical Director John Taylor Hospice; Dr Salmin Aseri, consultant in pain medicine & Anaesthesia; St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr George Harrison, consultant in pain medicine, Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital; Dr Rashmi Poddar, pain consultant Kettering General Hospital; Dr Ashish Gulve; consultant in pain Management The James Cook University Hospital Middlesbrough; Dr Yaser Mehrez,consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust; Dr Victoria Tidman, consultant in pain medicine University College London Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Tacson Fernandez,consultant in pain medicine Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital; Dr Kim Carter, consultant Anaesthetist & pain Northampton General Hospital; Dr Anand Natarajan, consultant in pain Management Wirral University Teaching Hospitals; Dr Dominic Aldington consultant in pain medicine Royal Hampshire County Hospital; Dr Emma Chojnowska, consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Chichester; Dr Liza Tharakan, consultant in pain medicine and Anaesthesia; Royal Orthopaedic Hospital; Dr Moein Tavakkoli, consultant in pain medicine University College London Hopsital (NHNN); Dr Manojit Sinha ,consultant pain medicine King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Sanjay Varma,consultant in pain Management Sunderland Royal Hosptal Sunderland; Dr Shravan Tirunagari, consultant anaesthesia and pain Management, East and North NHS Trust Hospitals; Dr Monica Chogle, consultant in Anaesthetics and pain Northern Health and Social Care Trust Northern Ireland; Dr Subhash Kandikattu, consultant in pain Management, Peterborough City Hospital North West Anglia NHS FT; Dr Jan Rudiger, consultant in Anaesthetics and pain medicine, Redhill; Dr Arun Sehgal, consultant in pain medicine and Anaesthesia,Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals; Dr Matthew LLoyd Hamilton, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London Dr Athmaja Thottungal, consultant and Trust Clinical lead for pain management, East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Rubina Ahmad, Title: Locum consultant, work place; Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust: Dr Sean White, consultant in pain medicine, London pain Service; Dr Anup Bagade, consultant in pain medicine East and North Herts NHS Trust; Dr Tom Smith, consultant in pain medicine London; Dr Jason Brooks, consultant pain medicine Belfast Health and Social Care Trust; Dr Vinay Anjana Reddy, consultant in pain and anaesthesia University Hospital Lewisham; Dr S Murugesan, consultant in anaesthesia and pain management, Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Nancy Cox, APT, University Hospital Coventry and Warwick NHS Trust; Dr Ashwin Mallya, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospital NHS Trust; Dr M Serpell, consultant & Senior Lecturer in pain medicine & anaesthesia Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS; Dr Srinivas Bathula, consultant in pain Management Heart of England NHS Trust University Hospital, Birmingham; Dr Ann-Katrin Fritz, consultant Alain Management Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital; Dr Ashok Puttappa, consultant in anaesthesia and Chronic pain University Hospital North Midlands Stoke on Trent; Dr Tom Bendinger, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine Sheffield Teaching Hospitals; Dr Sumit Gulati,consultant in pain medicine and anaesthesia Walton Centre NHS FT, Liverpool UK;Dr Arun Natarajan, consultant in pain medicine Hillingdon Hospital; Dr Katrina Dick, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine Ayrshire and Arran; Dr Shefali Kadambande , consultant in anaesthesia and pain management University Hospital of Wales; Dr Nick Roberts, consultant in pain Management Kettering General Hospital; Dr Somnath Bagchi, consultant in pain medicine University Hospitals Plymouth UK; Dr Lakshman Radhakrishnan, consultant in pain management Royal Lancaster Infirmary; Dr Stephan Weber, consultant in pain Management BMI Goring Hall Hospital; Dr Kiran Sachane consultant in pain medicine NHS Lothian pain Service, Edinburgh Scotland; Dr James Blackburn, consultant in pain medicine, St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust; Dr Srinivas Bathula, consultant in pain medicine, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS FT; Dr Ravi Srinivasagopalan, consultant in pain Management and anaesthesia The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS FT; Dr John Goddard, consultant in Paediatric pain medicine Sheffield Children’s Hospital; Dr Chad Taylor, pain medicine consultant, Jersey (Channel Islands UK); Dr Udaya Kumar Chakka, consultant in pain medicine, Coventry; Dr Pallav Desai, Neuromodulation Fellow, James Cook University Hospital; Dr Azfer Usmani, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust; Dr Neal Evans, consultant in pain medicine Bucks Hosps NHS Trust; Dr Kanar Al-Quragooli, Associate Specialist in anaesthesia and pain medicine , Manchester FT; Dr Valentina Jansen, consultant in pain and anaesthetics Glangwili General Hospital Hywel Dda NHS Trust; Professor Emeritus Sam H Ahmedzai, University of Sheffield; Dr Mike Hudspith, consultant in pain medicine Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital;

Are these the names of people that run medicine companys

When the UK sorts out this Brexit deal they would be stupid not to start legalising and taxing it eventually, I think its just a matter of time

davieG · 23 October 2019

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49906476

What prohibition's failure means for the legalisation of cannabis
By Tim Harford
Presenter, 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy

Prohibition aimed to outlaw the manufacture and sale of alcohol across the US
Economists have a bit of an image problem. People think we shamelessly massage statistics, overconfidently make terrible predictions, and are no fun at drinks parties.

Perhaps some of the blame for this lies with the man who, a century ago, was probably the most famous economist in the world - Irving Fisher.

It was Fisher who notoriously claimed, in October 1929, the stock market had reached "a permanently high plateau".

Nine days later, came the huge stock market crash that led to the Great Depression.

As for parties, the best that can be said for Fisher was he was a generous host.

As Mark Thornton records in The Economics of Prohibition, one of Fisher's dinner guests wrote: "While I ate right through my succession of delicious courses, [Fisher] dined on a vegetable and a raw egg."

A fitness fanatic, he avoided meat, tea, coffee and chocolate.

He didn't drink alcohol either, and was an enthusiastic supporter of prohibition, America's ill fated attempt to outlaw its manufacture and sale, which began in 1920.

It was a remarkable change - the country's fifth-largest industry was suddenly made illegal.

Fisher predicted it would "go down in history as ushering in a new era in the world, in which accomplishment this nation will take pride forever".

He added he couldn't find a single economist willing to oppose the policy in a debate.

In fact, prohibition turned out about as well as his prediction about the permanently high plateau: historians typically regard it as a farce.

It was so widely flouted alcohol consumption decreased by only about a fifth. It finally ended in 1933, when one of Franklin D Roosevelt's first acts as president was to re-legalise beer, bringing cheering crowds to the White House gates.

The roots of prohibition are generally traced to religion, perhaps laced with class-based snobbery.

But economists had another concern: productivity.

Wouldn't sober nations outcompete those with a workforce of drunks?

50 Things That Made the Modern Economy highlights the inventions, ideas and innovations that helped create the economic world.

It is broadcast on the BBC World Service. You can find more information about the programme's sources and listen to all the episodes online or subscribe to the programme podcast.

Fisher certainly seems to have happily taken some liberties with figures. He claimed, for example, prohibition was worth $6bn to America's economy.

Was this figure the result of careful study? Not according to one bemused critic.

Evidently Fisher started with reports from a few individuals a stiff drink on an empty stomach made them 2% less efficient.

He then assumed workers habitually downed five stiff drinks just before work, so multiplied the two by five and concluded alcohol lopped 10% off production.

Dubious, to say the least.

Economists might have been less surprised by the failure of prohibition if they'd been able to fast-forward half a century to economist Gary Becker's Nobel Prize-winning insights on "rational crime".

Becker said making something illegal simply added another cost rational people would weigh up alongside other costs and benefits - the penalty if you're caught, modulated by the probability of being caught.

Gary Becker was awarded the 2008 Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work
He meant it, too: the first time I met him, he parked his car in such a way he risked a ticket. "I don't think they check that carefully," he told me, cheerfully admitting he had committed a rational crime.

"Rational criminals," said Becker, "will supply prohibited goods at the right price."

Whether consumers will pay that price depends on what economists call elasticity of demand.

Imagine, for example, the government bans broccoli. Would "black marketeers" grow broccoli in secluded back gardens and sell it down dark alleys for an inflated price?

It's unlikely, because demand for broccoli is elastic - hike the price and most of us will buy cauliflower or cabbage instead.

With alcohol, it turns out, demand is inelastic: raise the price and many will still pay it.

Prohibition was a boon for rational criminals such as Al Capone, who defended his bootlegging in entrepreneurial terms.

"I give the public what the public wants," he said. "I never had to send out high-pressure salesmen. I could never meet the demand."

Al Capone was eventually convicted of tax evasion, in 1931
Black markets change incentives in other ways.

Your competitors can't take you to court, so why not use whatever means necessary to establish a local monopoly? The widespread belief mob violence spiked after prohibition certainly contributed to calls for its repeal.

Every shipment of illegal goods carries some risk, so why not save space by making your product more potent? During prohibition, consumption of beer declined relative to spirits; when it ended, that reversed.

And why not cut costs by lowering quality? If you're making "moonshine" - strong, illegal drink - you don't have to list your ingredients on the label.

America wasn't the only country to try prohibition - others included Iceland, Finland and the Faroe Islands - but nowadays nations that strictly ban alcohol tend to be Islamic.

Others have partial restrictions. In the Philippines, for instance, you can't buy alcohol on election day, or in Thailand on Buddhist holidays - except at the airport duty-free. America still has some "dry" counties, and local "blue laws", which ban sales on Sundays.

Those laws inspired the economist Bruce Yandle to coin a term that's become common in the branch of economics called public choice theory: "bootleggers and Baptists".

The idea is regulations are often supported by a surprising alliance of noble-minded moralists and profit-driven cynics.

Think about bans on cannabis. Who supports them?

The use of cannabis has been decriminalised in many jurisdictions
According to Yandle's formulation, the "Baptists" are anyone who thinks cannabis is wrong; the "bootleggers" the rational criminals who profit from illicit dope, along with anyone else with an economic interest in anti-drugs laws, such as the bureaucrats paid to enforce them.

In recent years, that alliance has weakened: cannabis has been legalised or decriminalised from California to Canada, from Austria to Uruguay.

Debates in other countries are raging: if you're going to impose costs on cannabis producers, should you do that by trying to enforce laws against selling cannabis, or by making it legal and imposing a tax?

Why are so many countries now saying cannabis is OK?
Teens less likely to use cannabis when it's legal, US study finds
Should cannabis be legal in the UK?
In the UK, the free market think tank the Institute for Economic Affairs has crunched the numbers on elasticity of demand for cannabis.

It reckons a 30% tax would almost eradicate the black market, raise about £700m - almost $1bn - for the government, and lead to safer drugs too, just as the end of prohibition led to safer alcoholic drinks.

Today, you'd have no trouble finding economists to oppose the prohibition of cannabis: at least five Nobel Prize winners have called for an end to the "war on drugs", arguing instead for "evidence-based policies underpinned by rigorous economic analysis".

Naturally, that evidence covers productivity. Some studies find cannabis impairs function; others find no effect.

One slightly implausible outlier even found smoking a joint gave a short-term boost to workers' hourly output.

One wonders what Irving Fisher would have made of that.

The author writes the Financial Times's Undercover Economist column. 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy is broadcast on the BBC World Service. You can find more information about the programme's sources and listen to all the episodes online or subscribe to the programme podcast.

-------------------------------------------------------

Drugs: UK should consider legalising possession, MPs say
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50147580
The government should investigate decriminalising the possession of all illegal drugs in a bid to prevent the rising number of related deaths, a group of MPs has said.

The health and social care committee said the level of such deaths in the UK had become a public health "emergency".

It found the UK's position on drugs was "clearly failing" and called for a "radical new approach" in policy.

The government said it had no plans to decriminalise drug possession.

There were 2,670 deaths directly attributed to drug misuse in England last year - an increase of 16% from 2017, according to the committee's report.

However, if other causes of premature death among people who used drugs were included, it is likely the number of deaths would be roughly double this, it found.

MPs on the committee said they were so concerned by the consequences of the UK's drugs policy that they had rushed their report out early.

They urged the government to urgently consult on making the possession of drugs for personal use a civil rather than criminal matter - an approach they witnessed in Portugal, where drug death rates have fallen dramatically.

Such a move would "save money" from the criminal justice system and allow for more investment in prevention and treatment, they say.

"Evidence heard throughout this inquiry leads the committee to conclude that UK drugs policy is clearly failing," the report said.

"The United Kingdom has some of the highest drug death rates in Europe, particularly in Scotland.

"This report shows how the rate of drug-related deaths has risen to the scale of a public health emergency."

Committee chairman, and Lib Dem MP, Dr Sarah Wollaston said: "Every drug death should be regarded as preventable, and yet across the UK the number of drugs-related deaths continues to rise to the scale of a public health emergency.

"Recommendations put forward in this report propose changes to drugs policy that are desperately needed to prevent thousands of deaths."

Image caption
Denmark is among the countries to have introduced supervised drug consumption rooms
MPs said the decriminalisation of the possession of drugs would not be effective without investing in harm reduction, support and treatment services for addiction.

Responsibility for drugs policy, they argue, should be moved from the Home Office to the Department of Health and Social Care.

They also called for a reverse to recent cuts to drug treatment services, as well as "sufficient funding" for alternative approaches, like a pilot of drug consumption rooms - supervised healthcare facilities where users can take drugs in safer conditions.

Dr Emily Finch, vice-chairman of the addictions faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, backed the committee's report.

She said: "The increasing number of people needlessly dying from drug addiction shows the government's approach to treating addictions is failing.

"We emphatically support the report's calls for urgent investment in drug treatment services and a return to harm reduction."

A government spokesman said the decriminalisation of drug possession in the UK would not eliminate drugs crime or address harms caused by drug taking.

He added: "We are committed to reducing the use of drugs and the harms they cause, and the Home Office has commissioned a major independent review to examine these issues.

"We must prevent drug use in our communities, support people through treatment and recovery, and tackle the supply of illegal drugs."

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