Isle of Man pharmacy to trial dispensing medicinal cannabis

Currently there are no pharmacies dispensing medicinal cannabis products

People on the Isle of Man with private prescriptions for medicinal cannabis could soon be able to access the products through a local pharmacy.

The government is asking for bids from pharmacies to run a trial service for 12 months.

A public consultation in 2019 showed strong support for access to the products to be made available.

Medicinal cannabis is not currently available on the Manx NHS and no GPs are registered to prescribe it.

About 55% of those who took part in the consultation supported buying medicinal cannabis over the counter at pharmacies.

A further 36% backed medical professionals being given more freedom to prescribe the products.

'Assured and accredited'

The government is seeking expressions of interest from community pharmacies on the island who want to import the products and fill prescriptions for them.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the trial would create a "quality assured and accredited dispensary process" for island patients.

Under the scheme, those who wish to access the products will need to have a prescription issued by a private clinic in the UK or a crown dependency, she said.

She said only those clinicians on the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council are able to issues those prescriptions.

No date has yet been set for the start of the year-long trial.