A prospective supplier of cannabis-based products can apply to the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), on behalf of the Minister, to have a product considered for inclusion in the Medicinal Cannabis Access Programme.
Cannabis products that can be used in the Medicinal Cannabis Access Programme are defined as ‘specified controlled drugs’ in legislation (SI 262/2019) and the definition outlines the specific requirements for those products.
The criteria that cannabis-based products must meet in order to be considered by the Minister for inclusion on the schedule are set out in the legislation and can be found in the operator guidance issued by the HPRA.
The manufacturers of the prescribed cannabis-based products availed of by patients (whose clinicians are licenced under the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977-2016) from a pharmacy in the Netherlands have not sought to have their products included in the Medicinal Cannabis Access Programme.
Due to current Netherlands government policy, the prescribed cannabis-based oil formulations are not permitted to be commercially exported from the Netherlands but are only supplied in the Netherlands to Irish patients on an individual basis on foot of a valid medical prescription when presented to the appropriate pharmacy.
