How does the approval of Scotland’s first medical cannabis clinic fit into Holyrood’s drugs policy agenda?

The news that Scottish patients will have greater access to a drug whose treatment potential has been obscured by drug laws for decades comes at a time of intensified calls for evidence-based change, writes Andy Gregory

A worker checks a young cannabis plant at a medical cannabis farm near Skopje (Robert Atanasovski/AFP via Getty Images)

Regulators have given the green light to Scotland’s first medical cannabis clinic, marking another significant step in the hard-fought battle to ensure those who require such treatment can access it legally.

As of yesterday, patients with an array of conditions beyond the slim few currently catered to by the NHS will be able to book appointments at Sapphire Medical Clinic in Stirling, where physicians can now prescribe cannabis flowers and oils for ailments such as chronic pain and anxiety.

Such access was hailed as a “lifeline” by one anxiety sufferer, while the mother of a child with severe epilepsy told the BBC: “It is a step in the right direction and it means finally there will be a safe path for scared parents to take.”