The Dáil is set to vote this week on allowing cannabis for medical use.
A bill put forward by Gino Kenny TD calling to prescribe medicinal cannabis for conditions such as epilepsy, cancer and MS caused an impassioned debate in the dail chamber last week.
Deputy Kenny said it will ease pain, but the government and opposition parties said the bill needs amendments as it could result in legalising cannabis for recreational use.
"Bypassing the approach to regulation exposes the public to incomplete and unpredictable medical treatments," explained pharmacist and Fine Gael TD Kate O'Connell.
Gino Kenny said: "The evidence is coming out of people's ears. Of course we need more research but there is a lot of evidence that people can greatly benefit from this,"
Epilepsy Ireland has long held an evidence-based position on medical cannabis and we agree with the path recommended by the HPRA in their Report issued last February. We also fully support the position of the NECCP (National Epilepsy Clinical Care Programme) and with the need for further research. This year, we have discussed these issues with Minister Harris and with Minister for Drugs Strategy, Catherine Byrne, and we engaged with the HPRA's consultation process in developing their report.