Director of Communications and Public Education Dr John Hillery spoke on RTE’s Today with Sean O’Rourke on the use of medical cannabis following a bill to legalise the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes which was passed by the Dáil last night.
The bill, which was put forward by People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, will now progress to committee stage.
Vera Twomey, mother of Ava, who has been campaigning for certain substances of the cannabis plant to be made legal for medicinal purposes, also took part in the discussion. Dr Hillery voiced concerns about the use of tetrahydrocannabinol, a form of cannabis used to get a ‘high’ as opposed to cannabid oil, which does not bind to CB1 or CB2, so does not give a high. He also pointed out that Minister Simon Harris could easily remove cannabid oil from the list of illegal substances under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations, 1988.
Click here to listen to the full discussion.