The government’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has found that Cannabidiol (CBD) has a “restoring, correcting or modifying” effect on “physiological functions” when administered to humans, in a potential milestone in the campaign to legalise cannabis and bring about evidence-based laws regarding drugs.

The review of CBD, a cannabinoid accounting for up to 40% of the marijuana plant’s extract that doesn’t contain its psychoactive THC but is purported to retain the health benefits, came about following discussions with CBD vaporiser company MediPen.

The MHRA’s findings are not directly applicable to the government’s response to last year’s petition to legalise cannabis, but stand in stark contrast, with the petition having been batted away by the Home Office with the assessment that cannabis “can unquestionably cause harm to individuals and society”. [Read more at Independent]