Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health
G18, Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London SW1A 2NS
Peter Reynolds
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
12 April 2017
Dear Mr Reynolds
Freedom of Information Request Reference FOI-1078680
Thank you for your request dated 15 March 2017 in which you asked the Department of Health
(DH):
“Please provide copies of any documents relating to any advice requested by or
provided to the Department of Health by the Chief Medical Officer or any other
expert source on the use of cannabis as medicine within the past 12 months.”
Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The DH does not hold the information you requested.
To establish that the information is not held I spoke to policy officials in the office of the Chief
Medical Officer and the Drugs Policy team who conducted searches of the manual and electronic
records for the period of the request without finding any information within the scope of your
request.
Outside of the FOIA and on a discretionary basis I can inform you that the Department of Health is
aware of the recent inquiry report of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform into
medicinal cannabis (published in September 2016). This report is available at
http://www.drugpolicyreform.net/
If you are not satisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to appeal by asking for
an internal review. This should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the
response to your original letter and should be addressed to the address at the top of this letter, or
the email address at the end of this letter.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
If you are not content with the outcome of your internal review, you may complain directly to the
Information Commissioner (ICO) who may decide to investigate your concerns. Generally, the ICO
cannot make a decision unless you have already appealed our original response, and received our
internal review response. The ICO will not usually investigate concerns where there has been an
undue delay in bringing it to their attention. You should raise your concerns with them within three
months of your last meaningful contact with us.
The ICO can be contacted at:
The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
Yours sincerely,
Alan Buchan
Freedom of Information Officer
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxx.xxx.xx
Page 2 of 2