Prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis products soared to nearly two million in a year, shock figures show.
Despite experts repeatedly warning of the dangers, private clinics handed out 1,967,268 prescriptions to Britons for medical cannabis in the 12 months to May this year.
This rocketed from 659,293 for the 2024 calendar year and 282,920 in 2023.
Critics warned hundreds of thousands more users could be suffering ‘genuine harm’ as Labour was accused of failing to get a grip of the issue.
Among the prescriptions were thousands for treating anxiety and depression, with patients often being handed super-strength cannabis products.
Ultra-strong strains – often imported from abroad – had names such as Space Cake, Chapel of Love and Banana Sorbet, according to figures published by the NHS Business Services Authority quango.
Some private clinics boast that the potent products can be delivered the next day straight to clients’ doors.
Benefits claimants signed off work with mental health problems are offered free consultations and discounts for super-strength drugs by some clinics.
Cannabis is grown in the UK for medicinal purposes at top secret facilities, pictured, to help meet demand for a huge boom in private prescriptions
The figures show marijuana – which the NHS warns greatly increases the risk of severe mental health problems – was routinely prescribed privately for mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, OCD, mood disorders and ADHD.
Dozens of private clinics are handing out the vast majority of medical cannabis in Britain, as NHS prescriptions are tightly controlled.
But the process is perfectly legal thanks to loopholes in the law.
It comes despite an epidemic of cannabis use on Britain’s streets and growing warnings from experts that it’s contributing to an increase in drug-induced mental health problems and psychosis, in turn piling pressure on NHS services and police forces.
Tory shadow health secretary Damian Hinds said: ‘Treatment that alleviates pain can be hugely important. But it is vital that the right safeguards are in place.
‘Medical licences exist for a reason – to protect patients – and Ministers must ensure the rules are not flouted in the pursuit of profit.
‘Patient care and wellbeing must be the top priority.’
Tory MP Joe Robertson, who sits on the Commons health committee, added: ‘It is concerning that there has been such a sharp jump in unlicensed medical cannabis dispensed privately.
‘Ministers need to take their heads out of the sand and tackle this issue.
‘There could be genuine harm being caused to thousands of people.’
England’s patient safety commissioner, Professor Henrietta Hughes, called for health officials to urgently intervene to protect public health, adding: ‘The growth of medicinal cannabis prescribing has outpaced the systems needed to ensure patient safety.’
The data showed that three-quarters of the prescriptions in the 12 months to May were for cannabis flower while the rest were liquid vape cartridges, oils, drops and gummies.
A 2018 change in the law made it legal to prescribe cannabis-based products for medicinal use in the UK.
It came after a successful campaign to make it available to children with severe epilepsy.
But Professor Hughes pointed out that the 2018 law change was ‘made with the intention that a small number of highly specialised doctors would be able to prescribe to a small cohort of patients’.
Oliver Robinson, 34, took his own life after developing a £1,000-a-month addiction to medical cannabis that was prescribed by a private clinic, according to his family
Oliver’s brother, Alexander Robinson, pictured with his mother Susan, is calling for ‘Oliver’s Law’ to tighten up regulation on prescribing medicinal cannabis
And the de facto legalisation of the drug – with police told not to arrest people for cannabis possession if there are ‘justifiable grounds’ for believing it could be for medical use – has raised concerns that companies are exploiting the lax regulations, creating a pseudo-recreational market.
Licensed products – which do not contain the whole plant – can be prescribed on the NHS for severe epilepsy, nausea from chemotherapy, or for muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis.
But private clinics can legally prescribe unlicensed products, which have not been through strictly controlled medical trials.
Many specialist pharmacies offer products with a THC (the psychoactive ingredient) content of more than 30 per cent, a level considered to be ultra-potent.
Most clinics charge an initial consultation fee of £100 to £200 – which can be free for benefits claimants.
Prices range from £39.50 for 10g of the cheapest product, up to £300 for 30g of the most expensive.
The medical cannabis market has expanded almost exclusively through private clinics and pharmacies in recent years.
But they are prescribing products that have not gone through the lengthy process to become licensed for use in Britain.
The fractured regulation of the industry means no official body has taken responsibility for the huge boom in prescriptions, according to experts.
Earlier this year, the family of Oliver Robinson, 34, claimed medical cannabis had contributed to a tragic outcome. After just one video consultation with a private clinic, he developed a £1,000-a-month addiction and an 18-month spiral that ended in his death.
Mr Robinson, an ex-property developer from Bury, Greater Manchester, had previously battled depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts, and had received NHS treatment including antidepressants. He also began using cannabis prescribed online.
A government spokesman said: ‘As with any medicine, including unlicensed Cannabis-based products prescribed for medicinal use, patients should follow the advice of their healthcare professional and the information provided with their medication.’
