• About
    • Ethics policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Ownership, funding and corrections
    • Complaints procedure
    • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Newsletter
Brighton and Hove News
13 July, 2025
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Opinion
    • Community
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Food and Drink
  • Sport
    • Brighton and Hove Albion
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Opinion
    • Community
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Food and Drink
  • Sport
    • Brighton and Hove Albion
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
Brighton and Hove News
No Result
View All Result
Home Brighton

Medical cannabis more commonly prescribed in Brighton and Hove

by Frank le Duc
Sunday 19 Mar, 2023 at 12:05AM
A A
0
Health watchdog highlights lack of late-night chemists in Brighton and Hove

A type of medical cannabis is being prescribed much more often by doctors in Brighton and Hove than in most other parts of England.

Nabilone, a drug which contains synthetic cannabinoids and is used to alleviate the side-effects of chemotherapy, was prescribed 371 times by family doctors across the country last year.

Of these, 53 – or one in seven – were for patients in Brighton and Hove, with 266 prescriptions issued over five years.

And other types of medical cannabis are being prescribed in small but growing numbers in Brighton and Hove, according to new figures.

The findings come as charities push for greater access to medical cannabis for those suffering from neurological and autoimmune conditions.

Medicines made from cannabis plants or synthetic cannabis can be used to treat a range of conditions – such as multiple sclerosis (MS), epilepsy and chronic pain.

However, they can be expensive to procure and some medical professionals disagree on how effective they are.

The most widely prescribed drug made from cannabis is a combination of dronabil and cannabinol which is used to treat MS and is commonly known by its brand name Sativex.

Figures from the NHS Open Prescribing service show that these drugs were prescribed 38 times by GPs (general practitioners) last year – up from 22 times in 2021.

The prescriptions were for 8,280 doses of the drug – up from 4,680 the year before.

Over the past five years, family doctors in Brighton and Hove have written 129 prescriptions for these medications.

These drugs are only used to treat certain types of MS and contain the active ingredients tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) which are found in cannabis plants.

While rarely prescribed, CBD is widely available in the high street – albeit in varying strength and quality. Meanwhile, substances containing THC remain illegal outside of specific medical uses.

The latest NHS data showed the number of prescriptions given by GPs rather than the number of patients. A single patient could have been prescribed a drug several times in one year.

Prescription medication can also be dispensed directly by hospitals – with previous research by the MS Society charity suggesting that more than half of Sativex prescriptions were issued by hospital doctors.

Across England, GPs wrote 2,953 prescriptions for Sativex and similar drugs last year – up 56 per cent from 1,893 the year before.

The MS Society has been campaigning to make Sativex more widely available and said that, despite increased availability, some health bodies would not currently fund the drug.

It said that the medication could have “life-changing effects” for those suffering from the condition, helping to alleviate stiffness and muscle spasms.

Across the country there were just 23 GP prescriptions for CBD-based medications last year, none of them in Brighton and Hove. These tend to be given to patients with treatment-resistant epilepsy.

The NHS is hesitant to prescribe these medicines more widely because of limited evidence of their effectiveness and high costs.

However, the charity Epilepsy Action said that access to medicinal cannabis could make a “massive difference” in reducing seizures when other treatments failed to work.

Daniel Jennings, senior policy and campaigns officer at the charity, said: “While it may not be effective for some people with epilepsy, the impact on quality of life in successful cases is huge.”

He said that these medications remained difficult to get hold of through the NHS and epilepsy patients faced large bills for buying them from private providers. Almost 90,000 private prescriptions were issued from 2018 to 2022.

ShareTweetShareSendSendShare

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Most read

Inquest opens after baby dies in Brighton hospital just days after her birth

Charlotte Tilbury opens new store in Brighton

Rough sleeper banned from station for playing piano

Water company brings in hosepipe ban after dry spring and heatwaves

Bob Dylan to open UK tour in Brighton

Medical cannabis more commonly prescribed in Brighton and Hove

Plan to revive Preston Village given warm welcome by council

Rubbish service is improving, insists councillor, as more problems surface

Brighton burglar jailed after £100,000 raid on jeweller

Relief after success for petition to reopen public toilets in popular park

Newsletter

Arts and Culture

  • All
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Food and Drink
American post-punk band The Wants to play ‘Bastard’ set

American post-punk band The Wants to play ‘Bastard’ set

12 July 2025
Love Supreme Festival 2025: Day One Report

Love Supreme Festival 2025: Day One Report

11 July 2025
Felix and Friends Make Everyone Welcome

Felix and Friends Make Everyone Welcome

11 July 2025
Ebbb drop their ‘Manners’ and then announce concerts

Ebbb drop their ‘Manners’ and then announce concerts

11 July 2025
Load More

Sport

  • All
  • Brighton and Hove Albion
  • Cricket
We have an awful lot of work to do, says Sussex coach

Sussex must up their game in T20, says disappointed Farbrace

by Alex Smith - ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
11 July 2025
1

Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace said: “It is a hugely disappointing night. We haven’t been consistent in the last three...

Sussex Sharks open T20 Blast with a win

Sussex Sharks flounder against Essex in T20 at Chelmsford

by Alex Smith - ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
11 July 2025
0

Essex 148-4 (16.1 overs) Sussex Sharks 145 (18.2 overs) Sussex Sharks lost to Essex by six wickets Michael Pepper’s pyrotechnical...

Brighton and Hove Albion to receive freedom of the city

Brighton and Hove Albion sell winger to Sunderland for £21m

by Frank le Duc
10 July 2025
0

Brighton and Hove Albion have sold international winger Simon Adingra to Sunderland in a deal reported to be worth about...

Sussex Sharks open T20 Blast with a win

Sussex pipped by Kent in T20 thriller at Hove

by Bruce Talbot - ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
9 July 2025
0

Sussex 148 (19.5 overs) Kent Spitfires 151-8 (19.3 overs) Kent Spitfires win by two wickets Joey Evison was Kent’s hero...

Load More
March 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Feb   Apr »

RSS From Sussex News

  • Water company brings in hosepipe ban after dry spring 11 July 2025
  • Police officer spared prison after being caught with child porn 11 July 2025
  • Airline fined for flying puppy to Gatwick before it had rabies jab 10 July 2025
  • Cross-Channel ferry service to Dieppe at risk 9 July 2025
  • Police officer admits sexually assaulting four women 9 July 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy
  • Complaints
  • Ownership, funding and corrections
  • Ethics
  • T&C

© 2023 Brighton and Hove News

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Opinion
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
  • Sport
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Contact

© 2023 Brighton and Hove News