Medicinal forms of cannabis oil were made legal in the UK in November last year.

But advocates of the drug have argued this does not go far enough.

So far, only CBD elements have been made available in products and to healthcare professionals, where it is in limited use.

Forms of cannabis with the THC element remain illegal, and are still categorised as a Class B drug.

“Of al of the side effects medicine can cause, this has to be one of the pleasant ones”

Beth Stavola

The THC element is what makes users “high”, with large amounts of it found in skunk.

But Beth Stavola, a cannabis entrepenuer and Founder & CEO of Stavola Medical Marijuana Holdings, has argued that patients with a number of ailments need THC.

She says the feeling of getting high should merely be treated as a good side effect.

This would benefit cancer patients and those with chronic pain, she claims.

She told Daily Star Online: “People should accept this sensation is merely a normally feel-good side effect to the THC as it goes to work therapeutically. Of all the side effects medicine can cause, this has to be one of very few pleasant ones.

“The type of people who therefore need THC include cancer patients with nausea and a lack of appetite, as well as many people with chronic pain, including those with cancer.

“Also, people with PTSD benefit from THC.  And it’s proving to be helpful in getting people off hard drugs, such as heroin, and even highly addictive prescription opiates.  

“For medical cannabis to best serve people with unmet medical needs in the UK, such as terminally ill cancer patients, THC needs to be accepted as viable medicine by British physicians, not just CBD. And that’s still a steep educational curve.”

Beth added once more research had been done, we could see medical cannabis in all forms in the UK in a number of years.

She also said: “The medical efficacy of cannabis for treating a wide variety of diseases and ailments is becoming increasingly well-accepted in North American society, including the medical community. But everyone is still waiting for more peer-reviewed scientific studies to quieten down the skeptics.

When that happens, the barriers to entry in the UK will also start to fall. On this basis, the widespread adoption of medical cannabis in the UK could be only several years away.    

With a population of around 66 million people in the UK, the medical cannabis industry could easily become a multi-billion-pound business in just a few short years. 

• Cannabis

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