– Of course we need to do more research. But I think we already know more than enough to be able to offer more cannabis preparations in Norway, says MDG party leader Arild Hermstad. Hermstad emphasizes that he does not see cannabis medicine as a “quick fix that cures everything”. – But we know that there are quite a few people who benefit from it. These are people who today often live in a hell of pain, and who are in pain every single day. And then Norway must stop making it terribly difficult for them to gain access to it. – The regulations are far too rigid and based on poor and outdated knowledge, says party leader in MDG, Arild Hermstad. Photo: news Hordaland / news Hordaland Last winter, news wrote about Geir Roger Moen, who had received a letter stating that he would no longer receive cannabis as pain relief. – It is incredibly difficult and frustrating. I can’t explain how heavy it is, says Moen. Now it turns out that Moen is not the only one who has received this message. “After starting cannabis, quality of life increased to 50 per cent and overall pain reduction to 50 per cent,” says Geir Roger Moen’s patient record. Photo: Gyda Katrine Hesla / news Cannabis suspension As far as news knows, Health South-East has ended treatment with medical cannabis for several of its patients – with immediate effect. – Vestre Viken will in future exclusively offer the medical use of cannabis through clinical studies, writes adviser in Vestre Viken, Iris Njaastad, to news. – All patients who are due for treatment are carefully assessed and are told verbally if they no longer meet the criteria to continue the treatment they are receiving, writes the specialist director at Akershus University Hospital, Pål Wiik, to news. The cannabis suspension has come after it has become clear that it is the healthcare institutions that have to pay for such treatment, and not the patients themselves. – Impression that it is being cleaned up Storting representative for the Liberal Party, Ingvild Wetrhus Thorsvik, earlier this winter sent a written question to Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) about what the Minister of Health and Care will do to ensure that patients who need cannabis as medicine get a responsible and predictable treatment. The Liberal Party decided last autumn that they will try out cannabis sales in municipalities that want it. Photo: Patrick da Silva Sæther / news Kjerkol replies that it is “a goal to give patients equal access to experimental treatment”. But it is not equal treatment. There is no national guidance for how applications for treatment with medical cannabis should be assessed. – The main rule is that experimental treatment must be offered through clinical studies, writes Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) in his reply to Ingvild Wetrhus Thorsvik (V). news has written about how patients are treated differently depending on where in the country they are, as hospitals have offered and paid for cannabis medicine as pain relief to their patients to varying degrees. – Our impression is that the healthcare organizations are cleaning this up, says State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng (Ap). – But the fact that news has focused on this also means that we see that this clean-up work must continue, says Bekeng. Is legal – but difficult in practice Cannabis is considered a so-called experimental treatment for most disorders. The exceptions are multiple sclerosis and some forms of epilepsy in children. The fact that a treatment is experimental means that the effect and safety have not been well enough documented for the treatment to be part of the ordinary healthcare offer. In Norway, however, the regulations allow medical specialists to be able to prescribe this treatment. But with the fact that a number of healthcare organizations will now exclusively offer cannabis through studies, for which no money has been set aside, it is clear that the treatment in practice is still not available to most patients in Norway. Starting a cannabis study – It’s about wanting to offer treatment that has an effect. We know that Health South-East wants to collaborate in the region on a clinical study, says State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng. State Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care, Karl Kristian Bekeng, points out that the government gives research money to health institutions over the state budget. Money that the healthcare organizations themselves choose how they want to spend. Photo: Esten Borgos / BORGOS FOTO AS The aim is to ensure knowledge about the effect of the treatment given. But the Ministry of Health and Social Care will therefore not give any money for such a study. – There is no money for this. We don’t usually directly fund research either, says Bekeng. Thus, the doctors at the pain clinic at Oslo University Hospital (OUS) themselves, on their own initiative, have to find money to have the study carried out, if they are to be able to offer patients cannabis for pain in the future. In comparison, the politicians in Denmark chose to start a pilot project in 2018 where all GPs had the opportunity to prescribe cannabis medicine. The project included a reimbursement scheme for the patients, as well as a fund for research for the doctors. Read more about European countries that have opened up the use of medical cannabis here. Professor and chief pain specialist at OUS, Audun Stubhaug, confirms that he is currently working to find funding for a clinical study. – Such studies are being planned and will be able to include former patients, says Stubhaug. Professor and chief pain specialist, Audun Stubhaug, and his colleagues at OUS have, on their own initiative, advocated starting a study. Treatment with cannabis preparations that have less than one percent THC can still be prescribed by GPs. Photo: Bjørn Olav Nordahl / news – We already know more than enough – We would like to do more research, but that must not be used as an excuse for not changing the current regulations, says MDG party leader Arild Hermstad. – The regulations are far too rigid and based on poor and outdated knowledge. The Left also wants to make it easier for pain patients to get cannabis as medicine. Ingvild Wetrhus Thorsvik says she fears the consequences of the tightening that has now come in the new year. – In cases where people have previously been prescribed cannabis and it has had a positive effect, we now see that there are many people who find themselves having to travel to Europe at their own expense to obtain these medicines. – And others again will seek out the illegal market for self-medication, which is very negative, says Wetrhus Thorsvik. Geir Roger Moen stopped opioids and sleeping pills when he switched to cannabis medicine. Photo: Gyda Katrine Hesla / news Geir Roger Moen, who has been given cannabis because he has struggled with nerve pain after several failed operations on his feet, sees the future darkly. Two weeks ago, he was called by the pharmacy where he has had a prescription for cannabis preparations. The message he received was that Ahus had now withdrawn the prescription. – Suddenly my fear of the future became very strong. In a month I will be without any kind of painkillers. So I have to admit that I feel terrified.
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Patients no longer receive cannabis medicine – news Troms and Finnmark
