Tipperary woman is first endometriosis sufferer in Ireland to receive legal cannabis

A Roscrea woman who suffers from debilitating endometriosis has become the first Irish person to receive a licence for cannabis prescription to treat pain associated with the condition.

Aimee Brown, who comes from Dublin but now lives in Roscrea and studies at TUS Thurles, has suffered from endometriosis for years, as well as adenomyosis.

After many years of fighting to be permitted to use cannabis to treat her condition, she is now expecting her first delivery of legal cannabis this week after receiving a ministerial licence for cannabis prescription.

The new programme enables a medical consultant to apply to prescribe cannabis to a patient who has not had success treating a condition with traditional medicines. 

Ms Brown is a member of the Irish campaigners 'Patients for Safe Access', who are attempting to change the laws in Ireland around medicinal cannabis.

The Roscrea woman has heightened public awareness about the risks associated with illegally purchasing cannabis for pain relief, which she said has offered her some relief from years of pain. The licence is valid for three months. 

“It took me many, many years to get to that step," she told the Irish Examiner newspaper this week.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “Since December 2016, the minister for health has approved 278 separate ministerial licences, issued under Section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, to Irish-registered medical practitioners to treat 75 individual patients with prescribed cannabis-based products; 75% of patients have been treated for epilepsy and the remaining 25% of patients for other conditions.” 

Endometriosis affects one in 10 girls and women of reproductive age globally, according to the World Health Organization. It is a disease where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, causing pain and sometimes infertility.