Rattlesden YouTuber calls for easier access to medical cannabis

YouTuber Kady Hughes launched a campaign to get the NHS to prescribe medicinal cannabis for more conditions

A woman who self-medicated with black market cannabis to help with insomnia is campaigning for it to be accessed more easily on the NHS.

Kady Hughes, 35, who lives in Rattlesden, Suffolk, said she had struggled to get quality sleep for years.

The YouTuber obtains medicinal cannabis via a private clinic.

The NHS said it offered cannabis-based drugs when safe and clinically effective to do so.

Ms Hughes, said she was diagnosed with anxiety, hidradenitis suppurativa - a painful, long-term skin condition - and carpal tunnel syndrome. She also suspected she has attention deficit disorder (ADD).

She said she had problems since her late teens and took tablets for her insomnia but they had "zero effect".

This led her to start self-medicating with "street weed" as she said it helped her to relax.

Kady Hughes who practices mindfulness also tries to get outdoors to help with her conditions

The YouTuber said she would smoke 1g of the plant every day, which would cost her around £300 a month, and worked multiple jobs to afford this.

When cannabis-based products for medicinal use were made legal in the UK in 2018, Ms Hughes hoped she would be able to receive a prescription on the NHS, however, this was not the case.

According to the NHS, medical cannabis is only likely to be prescribed for the following three conditions: children and adults with rare, severe forms of epilepsy; adults with vomiting or nausea caused by chemotherapy; or people with muscle stiffness and spasms caused by multiple sclerosis (MS).

She has since been able to obtain plant-based medication through a private clinic.

However, she is now campaigning for easier access to medical cannabis prescriptions on the NHS in England.

"I would like to see it available on the NHS for absolutely anybody at a lower cost and therefore it's available consistently," she said.

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According to figures released by the NHS Business Services Authority in January 2023, and seen by PA Media, a total of 89,239 private prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines were issued between November 2018 and July 2022 in England.

The NHS said it "already offers several cannabis-based treatments that have been approved by the MHRA [Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency] and recommended by NICE [National Institute for Health and Care Excellence] as safe and clinically effective".

"Many doctors and professional bodies rightly remain concerned about the limited evidence available concerning the safety and efficacy of unlicensed products," a spokesperson added.

The Department of Health and Social Care said: "Specialist doctors are allowed to prescribe cannabis-based products, where clinically appropriate and in the best interests of patients.

"We are working closely with regulatory, research and NHS partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of more cannabis-based products for medicinal use to inform future NHS funding decisions."