MEDICS are now prescribing super-strength cannabis to Brits with anxiety and depression, a report claims.
Thousands of people are being given the “medicinal herb” despite warnings from experts about the risks.
Private clinics are handing it out after just one video consultation and boast it can even be delivered directly to the “patient’s” door via a next-day service, the Daily Mail claims.
This is amid widespread cannabis use on Britain’s streets, an audit has found specialist pharmacies are prescribing almost 10,000 different products.
These include ultra-strong strains imported from Amsterdam with names such as Ghost Train Haze, Dante’s Inferno and White Widow.
Benefits claimants signed off work with mental health problems are offered free consultations and discounts of up to 20 per cent on the cost of the drug.
While NHS prescriptions are tightly controlled, dozens of private clinics are now handing out 99 per cent of all medical cannabis prescribed in Britain and are much more loosely regulated.
Marijuana, which the NHS warns greatly increases the risk of severe mental health problems, is routinely prescribed privately for conditions including anxiety, depression, OCD, mood disorders and ADHD.
But now illegal stoners are even encouraged to contact clinics to see if their cannabis use could be legitimised with a prescription.
The entire process is legal due to loopholes in the law which stoners are jumping on in their droves.
The rise in high-strength medical cannabis prescriptions has raised fears it is contributing to increasing cases of drug-induced mental health problems and psychosis.
Experts also warn this is placing extra strain on an already overstretched NHS and police forces.
Cops have even been told not to arrest people for cannabis possession if there are justifiable grounds to believe it could be for medical use.
This has fuelled concerns that companies exploiting loose regulations have created a pseudo-recreational market.
Freedom of Information data shows 88,214 unlicensed cannabis products were prescribed privately in the first two months of 2025.
In 2024, 659,293 unlicensed cannabis products were prescribed, equivalent to almost ten tonnes of cannabis.
This was up sharply from 282,920 products in 2023, according to NHS Business Services Authority figures.
Sir Robin Murray, professor of psychiatric research at King’s College London, described the situation as “outrageous”.
He warned rising strength increases the risk of dependence and psychiatric side effects.
He said there are no controlled trials showing cannabis benefits psychiatric disorders and strong evidence it can cause them.
Data from private clinic Mamedica shows 50.5 per cent of its more than 12,000 UK patients are prescribed cannabis for mental health conditions.
If reflected across the industry, this suggests tens of thousands of people are being prescribed the drug for mental health issues.
Some clinics offer free consultations and cut-price cannabis to people on benefits.
Tory health spokesman Stuart Andrew called the findings extremely concerning and urged the Government to act.
Medical cannabis was legalised in 2018 following a campaign to help children with severe epilepsy.
Licensed products can be prescribed on the NHS for severe epilepsy, chemotherapy nausea and muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis.
However, private clinics can legally prescribe unlicensed products that have not been through full medical trials.
Dozens of pharmacies offer products with THC levels above 30 per cent.
Prescribed volumes rose from 2.7 million grams in 2022 to 9.8 million grams in 2024.
Higher-potency cannabis is also becoming more common.
In 2022, the most popular strength was between 18 and 22 per cent THC.
By early 2025, products above 22 per cent accounted for almost half of all prescriptions.
Question and Answer section for the divisive topic:
How is this possible?
Cannabis has been legal for medical use since November 2018, but only a small number of licensed cannabis products are prescribed by the NHS each year.
Instead, the medical cannabis market has expanded almost exclusively through private clinics and pharmacies prescribing products that have not gone through the lengthy process to become licensed for use in Britain.
The Home Office approves special import licences for cannabis growers and suppliers, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approves unlicensed medical cannabis products, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates private clinics in England.
The fractured regulation of the industry means no official body has taken responsibility for the huge boom in medical cannabis.
Who can get medical cannabis?
Astonishingly, pretty much anybody. One site says that while patients typically require evidence they have unsuccessfully tried two other medications to treat their condition before being prescribed cannabis, ‘this is down to the prescribing specialist and the discretion of professionals at individual clinics’.
How much does it cost?
Most clinics charge an initial consultation fee of £100 to £200 – which is often free if you’re on benefits – and prices range from £39.50 for 10g of the cheapest product up to £300 for 30g of the most expensive.
What are ministers doing about it?
The industry has expanded so dramatically – way beyond what was anticipated in 2018 – that official bodies either seem to have been taken by surprise, or do not want to take responsibility.
There are some signs that officials are taking notice. In 2023, the CQC called for a multi-agency review of the impact of 2018 law change on medical cannabis.
Last September, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs launched a review of cannabis-based products for medicinal use.
