26 year old patient from Dublin first medical cannabis access

Four years after its inception, Ireland has its first patient through the nationally accredited Medical Cannabis Access Program (MCAP). This milestone is significant in the ongoing medical cannabis campaign. Politician Gino Kenny is the driving force behind People Before Profit solidarity. Kenny aims to improve access to medical cannabis for tens of thousands of patients across the country.

An important milestone

European cannabis news source BusinessCann spoke to Ryan Gorman from Dublin. Gorman will now be the first patient to receive CannEpil, a formula made by MGC Pharmaceuticals that is high in CBD and THC. CannEpil became available through MCAP in Ireland in 2019 prior to being approved for the primary care reimbursement service. It will be free from June 2021.

There are only three conditions that MCAP will currently allow the use of medical cannabis treatment for, including nausea caused by chemotherapy, spasticity related to multiple sclerosis, and severe forms of epilepsy. Ryan is one in about 37,000 people in Ireland with epilepsy and one in about 800 with persistent epilepsy, meaning that the response to current drug treatments is ineffective.

The backlash

Inevitably, some people are still against the use of cannabis, so the program expects some backlash. Numerous Irish medical professionals have spoken out against medicinal cannabis, especially THC, for the treatment of epilepsy.

Professor Bryan Lynch, a consulting pediatric neurologist at Temple Street Children’s Hospital, told the Oireachtas Health Committee that there was no evidence of the benefits of THC-containing cannabis products for epileptic patients.

However, there arguably some useful findings. A recent review of Imperial College London by Professor David Nutt and Ph.D. Candidate Rayyan Zafar found that combined CBD and THC-based products are highly effective in treating patients diagnosed with severe childhood epilepsy.

“It’s not about being first or last or standing in the middle. It is important that when it becomes accessible and the barriers are dismantled, it is almost like the Berlin Wall, you go through, then the rest comes. “

People Before Profit solidarity politician Gino Kenny

The system is still missing

Despite positive progress for MCAP, even its strongest proponents remain somewhat skeptical of its scope and potential as an effective way forward for access to medical cannabis.

Gino Kenny says, “The program is far too restrictive and needs to include other conditions in order for it to achieve its full potential. I know that there remains frustration at the excruciatingly slow progress of the program, but hopefully with this news it can set a precedent for further progress. “

Positive change for the future

In May this year, a poll by Red C, the most published and respected political polling company in Ireland, found that more than 93 percent of respondents were in favor of medical cannabis in Ireland. However, 39 percent supported the legalization of leisure activities.

A five year review of MCAP will take place in the near future. However, according to drug politician Natalie O’Regan, one major flaw is that there is no monitoring or surveillance of patients. Without raw data for the next steps, the future is unclear. To see a real change, they think products other than CannEpil need to become available through MCAP, requiring more patients.

O’Regan said it best, “No matter what’s wrong with the program, someone will have a better quality of life about the decision.”