Review of medicinal use of cannabis launched by Home Secretary

Mr Javid announced the move in a statement to the House of Commons in the wake of a series of appeals from parents who want their children to be able to access medications which can alleviate epilepsy and other illnesses.

The Home Secretary announced that he had authorised a licence to be issued on Tuesday for six-year-old Alfie Dingley, after his mother said she had been waiting three months for Prime Minister Theresa May to fulfil a personal assurance that he would be allowed to receive cannabis oil.

Speaking to the House of Commons, Mr Javid stressed that the class B drug would remain banned for recreational use.

Mr Javid told MPs that the review would be held in two parts. The first, led by chief medical officer Sally Davies, will make recommendations on which cannabis-based medicines might offer patients real medical and therapeutic benefits.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will consider in the second part of the review whether changes should be made to the classification of these products on an assessment of "the balance of harms and public health needs".

"If the review identifies significant medical benefits, then we do intend to reschedule," Mr Javid told MPs.

"We have seen in recent months that there is a pressing need to allow those who might benefit from cannabis-based medicines to access them."

Mr Javid said that since becoming Home Secretary in April, it had become clear to him that the current legal position on medicinal cannabis was "not satisfactory for the parents, not satisfactory for the doctors, and not satisfactory for me".

But he insisted: "This step is in no way a first step to the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use.

"This Government has absolutely no plans to legalise cannabis and the penalties for unauthorised supply and possession will remain unchanged."

The announcement of the review came just days after Mr Javid intervened to permit the use of cannabis oil to treat severely epileptic 12-year-old Billy Caldwell, who had been admitted to hospital with seizures after supplies his mother had brought from Canada were confiscated at Heathrow.

Billy's mother Charlotte described it as "amazing news" which she "applauded".

She said: "Today, a few moments ago in the House of Commons, the government commissioned a full review of medicinal cannabis.

"While clearly largely positive, we still want to hear the detail from the mouths of the Home Secretary and the Health Secretary who was sitting next to him when he made the statement.

"At every stage