Are illicit drugs ever allowed for medical treatment?

The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 sets out the law on the therapeutic use of drugs. The Regulations define the classes of persons who are authorised to supply and possess controlled drugs while acting in their professional capacities and lays down the conditions under which these activities must be carried out.

Under the Regulations, drugs are categorised in five schedules which govern the import, export, production, supply, possession, prescribing and record keeping of drugs. Which schedule a drug falls under determines what exemptions will apply to it. In summary, the Schedules are:

- Schedule 1 includes substances such as LSD and cannabis that are not available for medical purposes. Possession and supply are prohibited without specific Home Office approval, which is only provided in exceptional circumstances, such as for research purposes.
- Schedule 2 includes prescription drugs such as morphine and diamorphine that are subject to special requirements relating to their safe custody, prescription, and the need to maintain registers relating to their acquisition and use.
- Schedule 3 drugs include barbiturates and are subject to special prescription, though not safe custody, requirements.
- Schedule 4 drugs include benzodiazepines and are subject neither to special prescribing arrangements, nor to safe custody requirements.
- Schedule 5 includes preparations that because of their low strength are exempt from most of the controlled drug requirements (e.g. cough medicines, anti-diarrhoea agents and mild painkillers).

In summary, heroin and methadone are legally able to be prescribed to patients by doctors in the UK in very closely regulated situations. Only a very few specially licensed doctors can prescribe heroin to maintain a drug user. Heroin can, however, be prescribed by doctors to relieve severe pain and has been found effective with terminally ill cancer patients.
Methadone is much more commonly prescribed, generally for tackling and supporting heroin withdrawal.

Cannabis has been permitted for medical use for some time now in many countries, including Canada, many states of the United States, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain, amongst others. There have been many studies on the therapeutic properties of marijuana. For example, there is evidence that cannabis has therapeutic value for treating mild to severe pain and a loss of appetite commonly associated with many long-term illnesses, diseases and cancer. For this reason, many people and pressure groups, including medical practitioners, believe that cannabis should be available to smoke or be taken in a medicinal form to patients shown to benefit from its administration, and that doctors should be able to prescribe cannabis and its derivates. However, the law in the UK currently does not permit the use or prescription of cannabis for medical use in the UK. Licenses for cultivation, possession and supply are prohibited without specific Home Office approval, which is only provided in exceptional circumstances.

For further legal advice regarding the use of illicit drugs for medical treatment, you are advised to contact a specialist solicitor. If you have been using illegal substances for medicinal purposes without a prescription from your doctor, you could face penalties under criminal law. You are advised to seek legal advice from a criminal law solicitor in these circumstances.

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