If you’re a regular follower of cannabis focused accounts on social media, you may have seen some videos circulating in recent days with an exciting claim – Andy Burnham, the next likely Labour Prime Minister, is actively researching ways to legalise cannabis in the UK.
Like all good rumours, the story has gained some legs and set chins a-wagging. The videos claim that Burnham’s aides are looking to plug the £5 billion gap created by the outgoing PM, Kier Starmer, who has promised a big uptick in defence spending without finding the money to cover the bill. And, according to the videos, cannabis legalisation will be the solution to that problem.
The story sounds credible and even has precedent. Earlier in 2026, the Sunday Times reported that the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was presented with plans to create a legal market for cannabis as a means of raising tax revenue, but instead opted to cut the winter fuel payments for pensioners. A move that didn’t go down well with the public.
While the claims in the video are exciting, they aren’t true.
The story that Burnham and his team are actively researching ways to turn cannabis into tax revenue began on social media accounts run by Legal Growers UK, a group calling for the end of cannabis prohibition due to its links to crime. While the intent of the videos is well-meaning, the claim is based on a misunderstanding.
On July 9th 2026, Legal Growers UK shared a clip from an interview with Gary Youds, a long-time activist who is well known in the cannabis community. Youds runs one of the UK’s longest-running consumption lounges, the Chillin Rooms in Liverpool. He places great emphasis on harm reduction, believing that when people can consume cannabis in a safe, relaxed environment, they are protected from the risks that arise from prohibition.
Youds has become something of an ambassador for cannabis reform through the social club model. His activism has seen him face legal consequences on several occasions, and he has gained invaluable experience and knowledge of how to effectively run a community-centred harm reduction facility.
leafie spoke with Gary Youds shortly after the first video was released. He confirmed he had indeed been asked to contribute to a research project focused on harm reduction spaces, and that he hoped this would be presented to the new, Burnham-led government in September. However, it’s here that wires have become crossed. This research isn’t being led by Burnham’s team; it was, in fact, the work of a UK industry body, The Cannabis Trade Association (CTA).
The CTA confirmed they had contacted Youds as a pioneer of harm reduction, and that they were putting together research that supported the use of spaces like the Chillin Rooms as a means of protecting public health and addressing the gap between the medical and non-medical use of cannabis in the UK. In a statement to leafie, they said the organisation “supports the lawful, responsible and evidence-led regulation of cannabis,” and that they believe “that the laws governing non-medical cannabis should be examined honestly”. Adding that “the current system has not eliminated cannabis use or the illicit market, and it has created consequences for policing, public health and social justice that cannot simply be ignored.”
The CTA has been active in past political cannabis conversations, providing evidence to the independent London Drugs Commission, which in 2025 published an extensive review of evidence from more than 200 people and organisations. The subsequent report, The Cannabis Conundrum: A Way Forward for London, stopped short of recommending the full legalisation of cannabis but called for decriminalisation of possession, alongside better education, improved healthcare coordination and more proportionate policing.
In their statement, the CTA confirmed they have been speaking with a number of medical cannabis lounges, harm reduction centres and other relevant stakeholders, but that work is being prepared for an independent government adviser, not the existing or incoming PM. “Like any responsible trade association, the CTA speaks with policymakers, advisers, regulators, researchers and other stakeholders across the political spectrum. Some of those conversations are necessarily private,” their spokesperson said.
So while Andy Burnham isn’t directly asking his aides to go out and research cannabis reform, at the heart of the rumours lay a positive story. Work is being done by an organisation with a history of advocacy to present political advisors with a viable alternative to prohibition. Spaces like the Chillin Rooms can keep people safe. They provide traceable, unadulterated cannabis to adults. They offer opportunities for better health outcomes, such as encouraging people to shift from combustion to vaporisation. They can even provide a support network for people dealing with substance use issues. Championing social clubs, like the one run by Gary Youds, could break the political deadlock and open up the opportunity for adults to consume cannabis safely and without fear.
Let’s hope that when this research is done, Mr Burham takes the time to sit down and listen.
Andy Burnham’s press team was contacted for clarification, but had not replied at the time of publication.
