Experts to provide clarity on medicinal cannabis

An expert group is to devise guidelines to provide clarity for doctors and patients on the safe use of cannabinoid derivatives to treat people with severe epilepsy at a time when debate on its merits is high on the political agenda.

While some cannabinoids showed promise in the treatment of severe epilepsy, others were “inadequately tested and known to be potentially harmful”, factors that had to be considered when “a new drug is used in a child’s developing brain”, said Dr Colin Doherty, consultant neurologist.

Dr Doherty, who heads up the National Clinical Programme for Epilepsy, said available evidence showed some cannabinoids held promise, particularly in children with Dravet Syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy that begins in infancy.