Just ten doctors have prescribed more than half of all medical cannabis drugs since they were legalised in the UK.
Figures obtained by The Times also showed a single consultant has been responsible for one in every ten cannabis medicines prescribed in the country.
That doctor prescribed nearly 46,000 cannabis medicines in the first five months of last year, equivalent to one prescription every two working minutes.
The top ten consultants, who work in private clinics, prescribed more than 805,000 cannabis treatments since 2019, 52 per cent of the total.
After a slow start, cannabis prescriptions reached 10,000 per month in mid-2022 before rocketing to 50,000 a month in early 2024.
Medicinal cannabis prescriptions reached a peak of around 100,000 a month in early 2025 before declining, the figures showed.
Most patients using private clinics to obtain cannabis prescriptions are being treated for psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety.
But many cannabis medicines contain higher levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the main psychoactive compound in the drug – than street ‘skunk’, a high potency strain.
Pictured: Medical marijuana. Half the cannabis prescriptions for medicinal purposes in the UK since 2019 have been written by just ten doctors
In January the Mail told how the family of a man who took his own life after developing a £1,000-a-month medical cannabis addiction said he was ‘driven to the depths of despair’ by the drug.
Oliver Robinson, 34, became hooked after just one video consultation with a private cannabis clinic and began an 18-month spiral which ended in his death.
An ex-property developer, Mr Robinson was found hanged at home in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 2023 after suffering depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts.
The strongest medical cannabis available in the UK is a strain named ‘Space Cake’, which has a THC content of 34 per cent.
This compares to between 14 and 16 per cent THC in typical street skunk seized by police.
Medicinal cannabis was legalised in the UK in 2018 after an outcry over the seizure of medication from severely epileptic child Billy Caldwell.
He became the first patient in Britain to be prescribed cannabis-based medication on the NHS after experiencing up to 400 seizures a day and regularly ending up in hospital.
But a Mail on Sunday investigation last year found private clinics were offering ‘medical cannabis’ to mentally unwell patients despite ‘no good evidence’ the drug could help, according to experts.
Oliver Robinson took his own life after an 18-month spiral following a single video consultation for medical cannabis
Some firms advertised that ‘you don’t need a serious medical condition to be prescribed cannabis’.
Professor Sir Robin Murray, of King’s College London, said the clinics were ‘causing harm to the people they are claiming to help’.
This month, a study published in medical journal The Lancet Psychiatry found no evidence that medicinal cannabis was effective for anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
The study analysed 54 clinical trials across 45 years and found it may help some conditions including epilepsy, chronic pain and autism, the overall quality of evidence was low.
Data from Mamedica, one of the UK’s largest private clinics, showed 50.5 per cent of its more than 12,000 patients are prescribed cannabis for mental health conditions. Some clinics also offer free consultations or cut-price prescriptions for benefits claimants.
Dozens of specialist pharmacies now offer strains with THC content above 30 per cent, with the total volume prescribed jumping from 2.7 million grams in 2022 to 9.8 million grams in 2024. Products above 22 per cent THC accounted for almost half of all prescriptions in the first two months of 2025.
The NHS lists hallucinations and suicidal thoughts among the possible side effects of medicinal cannabis.
For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit thecalmzone.net/get-support.
