Cost Barrier: One in Three Patients Stop Cannabis Treatment Due to Price
A new report has found that approximately one in three UK medical cannabis patients who begin treatment discontinue within 12 months primarily due to the ongoing cost of private prescriptions.
A report published by a UK health economics research group has found that approximately one in three patients who begin medical cannabis treatment through a licensed private clinic in the UK discontinue within 12 months, with cost cited as the primary reason in over half of those cases. The findings highlight what campaigners describe as the single greatest structural barrier to the long-term effectiveness of the UK medical cannabis framework.
Cost Context
NHS medical cannabis prescribing remains extremely limited in the UK. The vast majority of patients access CBMPs through private specialist clinics at personal cost. Monthly treatment costs typically range from £150 to £400 depending on the product, dose, and clinic fees, placing ongoing treatment beyond the sustained financial reach of many patients on average or below-average incomes.
Report Key Statistics
- 34% of patients who initiated treatment discontinued within 12 months
- 52% of those who discontinued cited financial reasons as the primary factor
- Patients in the lowest income quintile were 2.4 times more likely to discontinue than those in the highest
- Only 8% of discontinuing patients reported switching to an NHS-funded alternative
Policy Implications
The report authors called on NHS England to review its approach to CBMP commissioning, particularly for chronic pain and PTSD where the evidence base is strongest. Without NHS access, they argued, the legal medical cannabis framework functionally serves only those who can afford private healthcare.
"A medicine is not genuinely accessible if only the financially comfortable can sustain its use. The cost barrier is a clinical equity issue, not simply a commercial inconvenience."
