--- description: The U.K. government's MHRA has ruled that products containing Cannabidiol (CBD) can be considered to be a medicine title: U.K. Regulator Says Some Cannabis Products Count as Medicine image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [policy](/tag/policy/) ## policy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.K. Regulator Says Some Cannabis Products Count as Medicine by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 11, 2016 3:33 PM CUT by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 11, 2016 3:33 PM CUT A U.K. government regulator says certain cannabis products can be considered medicine, in a big win for the campaign to [legalize cannabis](http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/07/two-u-s-states-become-first-to-legalize-marijuana/ "undefined") use. The decision from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) applies to products containing [Cannabidiol](http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/04/a-new-marijuana-plant-without-the-high-it-could-be-good-medicine/ "undefined") (CBD), a specially bred variety of cannabis that has extremely low levels of the hallucinogenic drug THC, meaning it does not cause a high but is thought to retain the same health benefits of other forms of cannabis. The MHRA review found that CBD has a “restoring, correcting or modifying” effect on “physiological functions” when administered to humans, the U.K.’s [_Independent_](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cannabis-legality-uk-government-finally-admits-marijuana-has-a-medicinal-effect-a7355941.html "undefined") reports. “We have come to the opinion that products containing cannabidiol (CBD) are a medicine,” said the MHRA, in a statement to TIME. “Products for therapeutic use must have a medicines’ licence before they can be legally sold, supplied or advertised in the UK. Products will have to meet safety, quality and effectiveness standards to protect public health.” The government’s review came about as a result of discussions between the MHRA and CBD vaporizer company MediPen, the _Independent_ reports. “Since our inception we’ve worked hard to obtain our goal of breaking down the negative connotations surrounding cannabis to lead to a reform in the law for medicinal use,” Jordan Owen, MediPen’s managing director, told the _Independent._ “Now this is finally becoming a reality.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4526568/cbd-cannabis-medicine-marijuana-uk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4526568/cbd-cannabis-medicine-marijuana-uk/"},"headline":"U.K. Regulator Says Some Cannabis Products Count as Medicine","datePublished":"2016-10-11T15:33:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:16:09.668Z","description":"It's a big win for the campaign to legalize cannabis use","url":"https://time.com/4526568/cbd-cannabis-medicine-marijuana-uk/","keywords":["policy","cannabis"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/policy/","name":"policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4526568/cbd-cannabis-medicine-marijuana-uk/","name":"U.K. Regulator Says Some Cannabis Products Count as Medicine"}}]}] ```