A complete medicines list gives a medical cannabis prescriber the facts needed to check possible interactions. Include prescribed medicines, pharmacy or shop-bought treatments, vitamins and supplements, plus any cannabis or CBD products you use outside a prescription.
NHS guidance says CBD and THC can affect how other medicines work. NICE also tells prescribers to consider interactions and a patient’s current or past use of cannabis, including products bought over the counter or online. The useful action is to disclose the full list and let the prescribing team decide what needs closer review.
What belongs on the list
Start with everything you currently take, use or have been told to take when needed:
- regular prescription medicines;
- medicines taken only when required;
- pharmacy and shop-bought treatments, including painkillers, antihistamines and cold remedies;
- vitamins, minerals, herbal remedies and other supplements;
- CBD oils, gummies or other cannabinoid products bought outside your prescription;
- prescribed medical cannabis products;
- any non-prescribed cannabis or other substance use that could affect the assessment.
Do not leave something out because it feels routine, natural, occasional or unrelated. NICE gives central nervous system depressants and other centrally active medicines, antiepileptics and hormonal contraceptives as examples where interaction potential needs consideration. That is not a checklist of unsafe combinations; it shows why the prescriber needs the whole picture rather than a patient trying to judge interactions alone.
Record the details from the label
Copy each item from its current dispensing label, package or patient record. For every medicine, note:
- the full name;
- the form, such as tablet, liquid, oil, inhaler or cream;
- the strength, including the units shown;
- the prescribed or labelled directions;
- whether it is regular or only taken when needed;
- what it was supplied for, if you know;
- the prescriber or service responsible for it;
- the date of any recent start, stop or change.
For supplements and products bought without a prescription, record the brand, ingredients and strength shown on the package. Bring the package or a clear photo if the label is difficult to copy. Do not guess a missing strength or translate one unit into another.
How to read a medical cannabis prescription label explains the usual label fields in more detail.
Use your health record as a starting point
A current repeat-prescription list or Summary Care Record can save time, but it may not show recent hospital medicines, private prescriptions, pharmacy purchases, supplements or non-prescribed products. Check it against what is actually in your home and add the missing items.
If two records disagree, keep both versions and flag the difference. A prescriber or pharmacist can confirm the current entry. Do not stop, restart or alter a medicine simply to make the list match.
What to keep in your medical cannabis records covers the wider documents that can help at appointments and reviews.
Include what has recently changed
Recent changes can matter as much as the current list. Add any medicine started, stopped or changed since your last appointment, who advised the change and the date it happened. Include any side effect or practical problem that began around the same time without deciding for yourself which product caused it.
NHS guidance lists dizziness, tiredness, mood or behaviour changes, feeling high and hallucinations among possible side effects of medical cannabis. Report side effects to the medical team. A dated note helps the team compare the symptom with the medicine history without turning timing alone into proof of an interaction.
For a simple structure, see What to record in a medical cannabis side-effect diary.
Questions for the appointment
The list is there to support a clinical conversation. Useful questions include:
- Which items on my list need a specific interaction check?
- Is any monitoring needed because of my medicines or health history?
- Who should I contact if another clinician, pharmacist or hospital changes a medicine?
- Which side effects or changes should I report promptly?
- Should my GP, specialist or community pharmacist receive an updated medicines record?
Keep taking prescribed medicines according to their current instructions unless the responsible prescriber tells you otherwise. If the clinic spots a possible interaction, ask who will coordinate any change and how the updated plan will be recorded.
When the list needs updating
Update the list whenever a medicine, supplement or cannabinoid product starts, stops or changes. Also update it after a hospital visit, a new private prescription or a pharmacy substitution. Put the revision date at the top so an older copy is easy to spot.
Bring the list to medical cannabis reviews and to other appointments where medicines are discussed. CQC guidance expects providers to have access to relevant medical histories and to communicate relevant information with other health and care providers where appropriate. A current list makes that communication clearer, but it does not replace the clinic’s own interaction checks or medical-record review.
What happens at a UK cannabis clinic consultation? explains where medicines and health history fit into the wider assessment.
Where to go next
For the wider pathway, use the MCPH Patient Guide. If you want to turn this list into a fuller appointment record, see What to keep in your medical cannabis records.
Sources
- NHS: Medical cannabis
- NHS England: Summary Care Records
- NHS England Digital: Summary Care Record viewing guidance
- NICE: Cannabis-based medicinal products, recommendations
- GMC: Information for doctors on cannabis-based products for medicinal use
- CQC: Cannabis-based medicinal products: what CQC expects from providers
- CQC: Controlled drugs annual update: key issues in 2023
