My Lords, we debated this issue at length in Committee and I will therefore speak only very briefly. I support very strongly the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, which was spoken to by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee.
The Minister is aware that cannabis medication has proved a literal life-saver for children with Dravet syndrome, an extreme form of childhood epilepsy. If cannabis could be available as soon as Dravet syndrome was diagnosed, very severe brain damage caused by literally hundreds of fits every day could be avoided.
The appalling side-effects of benzodiazepines for tiny children could also be done away with. On the basis of that single syndrome, the value of medicinal cannabis for these tiny children seems sufficient to make the case for cannabis to be shifted from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2.
As we know, Schedule 1 has in it only those drugs that are deemed to have no medicinal value at all. One simply cannot say that any longer of medicinal cannabis. The evidence of the medicinal value of cannabis for a range of other severe, long-term illnesses is now also irrefutable. That is a strong word when research is so difficult to undertake and the research studies have therefore been relatively small, but the evidence from countries across the world is now so strong, even on the basis of these small studies, that I do not think we should be questioning it.
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We know that for many diagnoses, including multiple sclerosis, different medications suit different patients. I was struck by the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra, maintaining that he does not need medicinal cannabis. Maybe certain people have not tried medicinal cannabis and might benefit greatly from it, but the reality is that different drugs suit different people. We know that there are 30,000 people in this country who are in great pain and go to great lengths to go abroad to get hold of medicinal cannabis, which they say makes all the difference to their quality of life.
The noble Lord, Lord Howarth, referred to the report for the all-party parliamentary group by a research officer, Frank Warburton, and Professor Val Curran. I will not repeat the excerpts that the noble Lord quoted from that report, but it sets out very powerfully not only the number of illnesses that can be treated with the drug but the number of countries that are now using it.
A senior Australian politician came to see me yesterday. He has tabled a Bill to legalise medicinal cannabis in Australia which is expected to become law in the autumn. The Bill apparently has a lot of support in Australia and one of the reasons for that is Dravet syndrome. When I mentioned the case that I shared with Minister, he said, “Oh yes, we have a number of those cases in Australia”. They have made a very big impact. I am very happy to make the Australian Bill, which I am assured will be sent to me, available to the Minister. That could cut a few corners and enable us to make some progress on this incredibly important matter sooner rather than later.