Can you get medical cannabis on the NHS?
The honest answer is that NHS prescribing exists, is real, and is very narrow. Knowing exactly how narrow saves people months of being passed between a GP, a specialist and a waiting list for something that was never going to be available to them.
The short answer
- Yes, but rarely. Cannabis-based medicines can be prescribed on the NHS, and very few are.
- Three medicines carry a UK licence between them, covering severe childhood epilepsy, spasticity in multiple sclerosis, and chemotherapy-induced sickness.
- NICE does not recommend cannabis-based medicines for chronic pain.
- Your GP cannot start one. Only a specialist on the GMC Specialist Register can.
- There is no NHS route to a general prescription for pain, anxiety, sleep or ADHD.
So is it available on the NHS or not?
Both things are true at once: the law has permitted NHS prescribing since November 2018, and the number of NHS prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis-based products has stayed in the low hundreds nationally. For most conditions people ask about, the practical answer is no.
The 2018 change was widely reported as legalisation, and that reporting created an expectation the system never met. What changed was the schedule cannabis sits in, which made prescribing lawful. It did not create funding, it did not put cannabis into NHS treatment pathways, and it did not oblige any NHS trust to pay for it.
That gap between what is lawful and what is funded is the single thing most worth understanding before you spend time on this.
What can actually be prescribed on the NHS
Three cannabis-based medicines hold a UK marketing authorisation, and NICE recommends each of them for specific, narrow uses. These are ordinary licensed medicines: they have been through clinical trials and regulatory assessment.
| Medicine | Recommended for | Prescribed by |
|---|---|---|
| A purified cannabidiol liquid | Seizures in two rare severe childhood epilepsies, and in tuberous sclerosis complex, alongside an existing anti-seizure medicine | Specialist epilepsy services |
| A THC-and-CBD oromucosal spray | Moderate to severe spasticity in multiple sclerosis, where other treatments have not worked | Neurology or MS services |
| Nabilone | Nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, where standard anti-sickness medicines have not worked | Oncology services |
If your condition is not on that list, no licensed cannabis-based medicine applies to you, and an NHS prescription would have to be for an unlicensed product. That is where it stops for almost everyone.
What "unlicensed" means, and why nearly all cannabis prescribing falls into that category, is explained in Why is medical cannabis an unlicensed medicine in the UK?
Why the NHS says no to almost everything else
Not obstruction, and not a legal bar. It is that NICE examined the evidence in 2019 and did not find it strong enough to recommend cannabis-based medicines for chronic pain, and NHS funding follows NICE.
NICE guideline NG144 is the document that governs this. It recommends the licensed uses above, and for chronic pain it recommends against offering cannabis-based medicines outside a clinical trial. Chronic pain is the reason most people ask, which is why most people are told no.
For conditions where NG144 says nothing at all, an NHS clinician prescribing an unlicensed cannabis product takes on personal responsibility for that decision, usually needs their trust to agree to fund it, and has no guideline to point to if the decision is questioned. Most decline, and that is a defensible position rather than an unreasonable one.
What NG144 actually recommends
NICE guideline NG144, published November 2019 and kept under review, covers cannabis-based medicinal products for intractable nausea and vomiting, chronic pain, spasticity and severe treatment-resistant epilepsy. For chronic pain it recommends not offering cannabis-based medicines except as part of a clinical trial.
Can your GP prescribe it?
No. Only a doctor on the GMC Specialist Register may start a prescription for an unlicensed cannabis-based medicine. That rule applies identically on the NHS and privately, and no amount of asking changes it.
A GP can be involved afterwards. Under a shared-care arrangement a GP may agree to continue prescribing a medicine a specialist started, but shared care is voluntary, uncommon for cannabis-based medicines, and cannot be the route in.
Your GP is still worth telling, for reasons that have nothing to do with permission: see Should you tell your GP about a medical cannabis prescription?
Who may prescribe, and how to confirm that a particular clinician qualifies, is covered in How do you check your specialist is on the GMC register?
Is there free medical cannabis in the UK?
Not as a scheme, a grant or an entitlement. Where a cannabis-based medicine is prescribed on the NHS it is dispensed on the normal NHS basis, with the usual prescription charge and the usual exemptions. Everything else is paid for privately.
Searches for free supply usually lead to one of three things: overseas programmes that do not apply in the UK, CBD wellness products sold as food supplements, which are not medicines and are covered in Prescribed CBD versus shop-bought CBD, or illegal supply.
Anyone offering prescription cannabis without a consultation, without records, or without a named prescriber is not running a clinic. The warning signs are set out in Can I get medical cannabis for myself in the UK?
What to do with this
Nothing on this page decides anything about your own case. What decides it is an assessment by a specialist who has seen your records, and the useful preparation is your diagnosis, the treatments you have already tried, and what happened with each.
If the NHS route does not apply to you, the private route is an assessment, not a purchase, and it can end with a specialist saying no. The consultation itself, and what happens after it, is set out in What is the process to get a medical cannabis prescription?
Frequently asked questions
Can I get medical cannabis on the NHS?
Only in narrow circumstances. Three cannabis-based medicines hold a UK licence, covering two rare severe childhood epilepsies and tuberous sclerosis, spasticity in multiple sclerosis, and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. NHS prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis products remain in the low hundreds nationally.
What illnesses qualify for medical cannabis on the NHS?
There is no list of qualifying illnesses. NICE guideline NG144 recommends the three licensed medicines for their licensed uses, and recommends against cannabis-based medicines for chronic pain outside a clinical trial. Everything else is decided case by case, and is rarely funded.
Can my GP prescribe cannabis?
No. Only a doctor on the GMC Specialist Register can start a prescription for an unlicensed cannabis-based medicine. A GP may continue one under a shared-care agreement, but that is voluntary and uncommon.
Is medical cannabis free on the NHS?
There is no free supply scheme. Where it is prescribed on the NHS it carries the normal prescription charge, with the normal exemptions. Private prescriptions are paid for by the patient.
Why was it legalised in 2018 if nobody can get it?
The 2018 change moved cannabis-based products for medicinal use into Schedule 2, which made prescribing lawful. It did not create NHS funding, add cannabis to treatment pathways, or oblige any trust to pay. Lawful and available are different things.
Sources and further reading
Every factual statement on this page is drawn from the following public sources. Links open in a new tab and are not affiliated with Flora House.
- NHS: Medical cannabis (and cannabis oils)
- NICE guideline NG144: Cannabis-based medicinal products
- NHS England: Cannabis-based products for medicinal use
- The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001
- MHRA: The supply, manufacture, importation and distribution of unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use