Letter from the Chair of the ACMD to Jeremy Browne, Minister for Crime Prevention, UK Home Office, re the definition of cannabis based medicine.

In October 2012 the UK Home Office presented to the ACMD a revised definition of cannabis based medicines, such as Sativex, under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. The ACMD gave detailed consideration to the the options and concludes that the most appropriate definition is:

“A liquid formulation–
(a) containing a botanical extract of Cannabis –
(i) with a concentration of not more than 30 milligrammes of cannabidiol per millilitre, and not more than 30 milligrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per millilitre, and
(ii) where the ratio of cannabidiol to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol is between 0.7 and 1.3
(b) which is dispensed through a metered dose pump as a mucosal mouth spray and which was approved for marketing by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)”