Gibraltar lets public health doctors supply cannabis-based medicines

Gibraltar authorised a wider route to cannabis medicines through its public health service on 16 October 2019. Trained Gibraltar Health Authority doctors could authorise approved products for specified conditions, and eligible patients could lawfully possess medicines supplied through that route.^[1]

A mouth spray came first

The February 2017 change had already moved a precisely specified cannabis-extract mouth spray into the controlled-medicines schedule. Its explanatory memorandum identified Sativex and the medicines rules through which it could be supplied.^[2]

The 2019 regulations added a separate category for cannabis-based products approved by the GHA. Acting Medical Director Dr Krishna Rawal described the initiative as a way to give patients more treatment options when existing medication had failed.^[1][3]

Public doctors needed training and approved products

Doctors had to be registered medical practitioners employed by the GHA and complete training in the use of these products. Each medicine required the GHA’s specific approval as safe and effective, following consultation with the authorised practitioners.^[1][3]

The government designated the GHA pharmacy at St Bernard’s Hospital for supply to the public. Products already obtainable from local pharmacies retained their availability.^[3]

For a patient, lawful possession depended on a qualifying diagnosis and a medicine supplied by, or under the direction of, an authorised cannabis practitioner. The regulations also imposed conditions concerning disclosure of other controlled medicines and truthful information when obtaining supply.^[1]

Four groups of conditions qualified

The rules covered moderate to severe multiple-sclerosis spasticity, severe refractory epilepsy, severe life-altering pain, and intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy. Each category included requirements concerning failure of standard treatment.^[1]

The regulations expressly prohibited administering these cannabis products by smoking. Patients’ permission was tied to their treatment and the approved supply route.^[1]

Training and supply took further work

The 2021 medicinal-cannabis industry law set out a commission and wider production and trade licences, but commencement required a ministerial notice. The official text remained marked Not In Force when checked in October 2026.^[4]

In September 2023, the government announced that GHA doctors had completed training and that agreement had been reached with Cantourage UK, subject to final detail, to enable prescribing. Health minister John Cortes said work to make these products available had been under way for some time.^[5]

For patients, the rules linked access to trained public doctors, qualifying conditions and approved medicines. Those requirements sit alongside the possession and supply offences described in Gibraltar’s current profile.