Cannabis 'no medicinal values'

I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Kenneth Heskin made this Freedom of Information request to Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Kenneth Heskin

Dear Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs,

I understand that it is this governments belief that "Cannabis has no medicinal values"

Yet it has now been medically proven that indeed Cannabis Does have many medicinal values. In fact during many medical trials it was proven that Cannabis kills cancer cells.

The idea that cannabis kills cancer cells is no longer be a conspiracy theory. With this information, should any country legitimately say no to medicinal marijuana?

Or could it even be considered a preventative herb to avoid getting cancer?

The US government has added a page on the use of cannabis and cannabinoids to their official cancer advice website.
The National Cancer Institute, part of the US Department of Health, now advises that ‘cannabinoids are useful in treating the side effects of cancer and cancer treatment’ by smoking, eating it in baked products, drinking herbal teas or even spraying it under the tongue.”

The official government site has a long list of medicinal uses of cannabis, including: Anti-inflammatory activity, pain relief, anti-anxiety, stress relief, anti-tumor, antiviral activity and relieving muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, and many many more.

The site goes on to talk about how cannabis has been proven to destroy cancer cells in lab experiments.

“Several scientific studies have suggested this in the past, and in April this year the US government’s National Institute on Drug Abuse revised their publications to suggest cannabis could shrink brain tumors by killing off cancer cells.”

If the United States government is finally willing to admit these benefits and that cannabis has been proven to kill cancer cells, then will other western nations follow suit?

Cannabis – is a natural herb that has a long list of benefits without the side effects of man-made cancer treatments.

The British government are preventing people from using a herb to successfully treat a multitude of diseases.
If they Do use this herb they are liable to arrest and to receive a criminal record.
Why should this be allowed?

Yours faithfully,
Kenneth Heskin

I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Kenneth Heskin

Dear Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs,

You are late with your response and are breaking the law.

Yours faithfully,

I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Kenneth Heskin

I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Kenneth Heskin

Dear Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs,

How surprising that you email me informing of your intention to respond to my FOI request only after the ICO intervene.

Yours faithfully,

I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Kenneth Heskin

ACMD, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

Dear Mr Heskin,

 

Thank you for your correspondence on 13th September 2017, 25^th September
2017, and 30^th January 2018, in which you ask for information on evidence
cannabis does not hold medicinal value. Your requests have been handled as
requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
Apologies for the delayed response to your requests.

 

Our records show that you have already written to us in August 2017
requesting substantially similar information and we sent you a reply to
this request on 18th August 2017 stating information was already publicly
available. The ACMD does not hold new information relating to this topic.
We therefore do not believe that a reasonable interval has passed since
you made your first request and we are therefore not obliged to comply
with your request, under section 14(2) of the FOIA, on this particular
topic.

 

In your correspondence you have also asked about the ACMD’s definition of
a medicine. The ACMD’s remit is to provide advice based on evidence of
drug misuse, as stated in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. It seeks advice
from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on
what is regarded as a medicine, where appropriate.

 

You have also requested clarity on how many cannabis-based medicines the
ACMD has referred to previously. Cannabis-derived medicines have been
previously defined in the ACMD’s advice on Sativex in 2013
([1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...) as:

“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)”

 

As far as the ACMD are aware, Sativex is the only substance currently
known to fit this definition.

 

 

If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent
internal review of our handling of your request by submitting a complaint
within two months to the address below. If you ask for an internal review,
it would be helpful if you could say why you are dissatisfied with the
response.

 

Information Rights Team

Home Office Third Floor, Peel Building

2 Marsham Street

London SW1P 4DF

e-mail: [2][email address]

 

As part of any internal review the Department's handling of your
information request would be reassessed by staff who were not involved in
providing you with this response. If you were to remain dissatisfied after
an internal review, you would have a right of complaint to the Information
Commissioner as established by section 50 of the FOIA.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

ACMD Secretariat

Home Office, 4th floor (NE), Peel Building

2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF

E-mail: [3][email address]

 

"Delivering Independent Science Advice for an Informed Government &
Society"

 

From: ACMD
Sent: 26 March 2018 11:53
To: '[email address]'
Cc: '[email address]'
Subject: RE: FOI complaint [Ref. FS50733888][Ref. FS50733888]

 

Dear Mr Heskin,

 

Thank you for your e-mail of 13^th September 2017 requesting information
regarding cannabis. Your request is being handled as a request for
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

We have received a notification from the Information Commissioner Office
on the 26^th March 2018. We will aim to send you a response by 23^rd April
2018, which is twenty working days from the date when we received your
request.

 

Yours sincerely,

ACMD Secretariat

 

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References

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I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Kenneth Heskin

Dear Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs's handling of my FOI request 'Cannabis 'no medicinal values''.

You completely avoided the issues raised.

"I understand that it is this governments belief that "Cannabis has no medicinal values".

Obviously you hold evidence to prove 100% that cannabis holds no medicinal values.
Therefore, please provide me with written scientific evidence you based your findings upon.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

Yours faithfully,

I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Kenneth Heskin

ACMD, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

Dear Mr Heskin,

Thank you for your e-mail requesting an internal review of your request. This has been forwarded to the Knowledge and Information Management Unit ([email address]), who will follow the most appropriate procedure in handling the request.

Yours sincerely,
ACMD Secretariat

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I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Kenneth Heskin

Dear ACMD,
I have been waiting 6 weeks for an Internal Review.
Please respond immediately or I shall pass this request back to the ICO.

Yours sincerely,

I am the agent for the fictional strawman that was created with the name Kenneth Heskin