Europe’s first medical cannabis patient registry was launched today by drug reform campaigning body Drug Science.
Project TWENTY21, to be led by drug specialist and campaigner Professor David Nutt, will enrol 20,000 patients suffering from a variety of conditions by the end of 2021.
The goal is to create Europe’s largest single body of evidence supporting the efficacy of medical cannabis. Drug Science, the UK’s leading independent scientific body on drugs, hopes that the trial’s results will provide the evidence necessary to convince both policy makers and prescribing bodies of the benefits of wider adoption of medical cannabis, and help prescribers gain confidence in providing medical cannabis to patients.
Professor Nutt said: “Medical cannabis is still out of reach for far too many. Patients are left untreated, in significant debt from the cost of private prescriptions, or criminalised as they are forced to turn to the black market.
“They don’t deserve any of this, and the situation with prescribing desperately needs to change.”
Project Twenty21
Project Twenty21 will be targeting patients with the following conditions for which alternative treatment has failed:
• Chronic Pain;
• Anxiety Disorder;
• Epilepsy;
• Multiple Sclerosis;
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD);
• Substance use disorder (as harm reduction strategy); and
• Tourette’s syndrome.
The project will use real-world data to document the effectiveness, safety, QALY (a measure of disease burden, including both the quality and the quantity of life lived) and patient reported outcomes in those prescribed medical cannabis for these conditions. It will not be a randomised control trial (where some would receive placebo), and all 20,000 participants will receive medical cannabis at an affordable cost, subsidised by partnering medical companies and by Drug Science itself.
Project Twenty21 has the support The Royal College of Psychiatrists, The British Pain Society, the United Patients Alliance, patients, peers and medical cannabis campaigners.
Professor Wendy Burn, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “The Royal College of Psychiatrists welcomes this project which it hopes will make an important contribution towards addressing the paucity of evidence for the use of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) in all health settings, including mental health.
“We hope that this project, along with other research such as more much-needed randomised control trials, will continue to build the evidence on CBMPs (cannabis-based medicinal products)”.
Are you looking to take part in this trial?
Are you a patient with one or more of the conditions listed above? Would enrolment on the programme benefit you? Click here to submit your details.
Where do I sign, I live with chronic pain as I have Degenerative disc disorder I have had 3 disc replaced and the rest have crumbled and cannot have anything done. I have a spinal cord stimulator in which has had to be turned off as it was causing my problems and now left me with twitching all over my body. I also have arthritis of the facet joints + many more problems. I have 180mg a day of Oxycontin 40mg Oxynorm up to 4 times a day and 100mg Amitriptyline + other meds. I wasn’t told what high amounts of Oxycontin and Oxynorm could do and I now have chronic kidney Disease with no cure, plus I B S, blackouts + more problems. I am also now on Keppra for tremors inside and outside of my body. I am in a wheelchair most of the time. My husband had to leave a well paid job to become my full time carer and he gets £63 a week for that. We have no life and I spend most of my time in bed as I am in to much pain to get up. My husband asked me to promise not to do anything meaning take my own life as I feel I am a waste of air. The same Dr that put me on this high amount is now telling me I have to cut down to 60mg a day, I really don’t know how I will be able to live. Please please think of me for this trail I will sign anywhere.
Hi Carol,
If you click on the link at the bottom of the article you will be taken to a form where you can fill out your details to apply for the trial.
Thank you for your comment
MCN Team
Good evening, I would like to volunteer for your medical cannabis trial. I have chronic bilateral neuropathic flank pain and chronic cluster and migraine headaches.
Hi Brian,
If you click on the link at the bottom of the article you will be taken to a form where you can fill out your details to apply for the trial.
Thank you for your message
MCN Team
I have applied for my partner over 15 years of epilepsy with every drug tried and failed with horrible side effects with all off them .hopefully this could be an option for her as its heartbreaking as we have 7 year old daughter who’s never seen her mum live a normal life seizure free
Hi, I clicked on the link , it just asks for your name and email, is that all it is to apply, I suffer from MS and am constantly in pain
Hi Henry,
Yes you just need to fill out the form.
Thank you for your comment.
MCN Team
Hi Henry,
Yes – just enter your details to apply.
Kind regards
MCN Team
I cant tell you how happy im finally to hear that cannabis is considered to be given by doctors i have multiple sclerosis and migraine herniated disc bladder /bowel problem and problems sleeping very bad fatigue im 39 y old and with 7 y old daughter i just wish i can get better and enjoy my life with my husband snd daughter stop depending on ppl helping me all the time for everything and my man working out and in the house all the time Or having medication infused every 4 weeks and ect just want meds free natural healing which is not harmful like sll the meds helping for one and distorting a lot more 🤗 i put my email and name only waiting for confirmation email but nothing yet been 15 min 🙃😊🤞
I’ve filled a form out for this when I saw a psychiatrist a few months ago, he didn’t tell me I had to get online to register I thought by filling the form out and answering the question’s that would I would be registered but no. So here I am to register, I hope its fair and not a competition or a lottery because I know there’s more a lot more than 20,000 needing affordable access to medicinal cannabis
30 +years with HIV , all sorts of pain. I have been using cannabis and would like to participate in this trial ,
Hi George,
Thank you for taking an interest in the article. Please contact the project if you are interested in signing up.
We wish you luck!
Kind regards
Team MCN
My doctor has just rung me to tell me about this and I do at the moment take cbd oil at a cost of 120.00 a month I have had a spinal cord stimulator and various pain medication over the years all with terrible side effects not with cbd oil you don’t get any it’s just so expensive I would gladly trial this if it isn’t too expensive .
I have had a mastectomy and I was wondering if I could be considered for a trial, ?
Crumbering not slumbering…
Do you have to pay for this?
Hi, I would like to apply for this trial if it’s free I cannot afford to pay I’m on a very low income. I suffer from tinnitus and anxiety. I take naproxen, beta blockers, sleeping tablets and co codamol too. I find sleeping difficult as I am very light sleeper. Dealing with tinnitus is difficult and affects me a lot. Do I qualify ???