People are protesting outside the Department of Health today for the access programmed to be expanded
(Source: www.pixabay.com)A protest will take place outside the Department of Health today calling for increased access to medicinal cannabis for chronic pain patients.
Campaigners say the Medical Cannabis Access Programme should be expanded to include those who suffer from painful symptoms every day.
The Medical Cannabis Access Programme came into operation in July 2021; however, there are only limited products available for a limited number of conditions.
Patients looking for relief currently pay up to €1,000 a month because it's not covered by the medical card.
An Irish woman, Alicia Maher moved to Spain in relief of chronic pain issues that began when having her tonsils removed.
She says she no longer needs to take pain killers or attend regular surgeries.
Her move to Spain three years again was also because she couldn't afford to access medical cannabis in Ireland.
It's now been one year since we moved from Ireland to Spain to access #cannabis to treat my #ChronicPain. @DonnellyStephen, you have not acknowledged a single email from me, can you please sort out the Medical Cannabis Access Programme as I would like to be able to return home. https://t.co/iYygCF8CNH
— Alicia Maher (@AliciaLMaher) November 17, 2020
