Patient group calls for expanded access to medical cannabis on ‘National Day of Action’

A leading patient advocacy group has called for a major overhaul of Ireland’s cannabis laws on the day that campaigners rally outside the Department of Health.

The Patients For Safe Access (PFSA) group said little progress has been made since the Medical Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP) was introduced here, and they insisted that more action is needed immediately.

PFSA is organising a large event at 2pm today outside the Department of Health’s offices in Dublin where speakers will call for changes to be made to expand access to medical cannabis.

Speakers at the event will include Martin O’Brien and Alicia Maher of PFSA, Deputy Gino Kenny, Peter Reynolds of the Cannabis Industry Council and the activist Martin Condon.

Martin O’Brien, the PFSA director, said that until major changes are made to Ireland’s drugs, barriers to access would continue to inflict real suffering on patients, some of whom are emigrating to escape needless constraints.

“Many patients and those who care about this issue hoped that the limited MCAP reforms would represent a new dawn. Unfortunately, three years on, it has become abundantly clear that the existing law is not fit for purpose.

“People with a range of serious medical conditions are not able to access cannabis legally. In spite of the evidence showing the benefits of cannabis in treating the chronic pain which so many people suffer from, the Government has slammed the door shut.

“Under MCAP, patients have to exhaust several other medical avenues before being allowed onto it, but we firmly believe that the Programme should be open to any patient with a condition that can be treated with medical cannabis,” O’Brien said.

Another leading voice within PFSA is Alicia Maher, a PhD candidate in the University of Limerick who left Ireland in 2019 to move to Spain, where she can legally access cannabis to cope with chronic pain.

Maher had suffered from severe ailments over many years which required several major surgical procedures, which resulted in her requiring large-scale medication including 30 tablets a day for several years.

In 2018, she began using medical cannabis and experienced immediate pain relief. However, persistent difficulties in accessing the products she needed in Ireland resulted in a relocation to Alicante where she has since lived.

“Nobody should have to struggle to get the medicine they need, but for the many Irish people who require medical cannabis, that is the reality. And for more than a few people, that entails travelling back and forth between countries, bringing sick relatives on journeys they should not have to make, or in my case, having to leave my family just to be able to get by. This has to end,” Maher said.

In the coming months, O’Brien and Maher said that the organisation will be increasing pressure on politicians to bring about meaningful reforms, including holding a conference in Dublin.