Drug policy charity Release has launched a campaign to support the rights of patients prescribed medical cannabis in the UK.
Despite medical cannabis being legalised in November 2018, many patients continue to report negative interactions with and harassment from the police due to what Release say is a lack of legal understanding.
The campaign follows an article published in the Guardian which highlighted 24 individuals who had experienced negative police interactions related to the use of their prescribed medication, including being arrested and handcuffed. The paper concluded that “… among many police officers there is a lack of understanding about who can access [medical cannabis] and where it can be consumed.”
To document patient issues and demonstrate the need for fairer and more just treatment, Release will be collecting any concerning or negative experiences that prescribed medical cannabis patients have had with the police through a questionnaire.
In addition, Release will offer patients the opportunity for their cases to be reviewed by their legal team to advise whether there might be a challenge they can pursue for how they were treated.
“Even though it has been over five years since the law was changed to allow for cannabis to be prescribed we know that many patients continue to face confusion from law enforcement. This has led to patients being arrested, having their medication confiscated, or the validity of their prescription challenged,” Stephen Cutter, Head of Legal Services at Release said.
“This can and should be avoided, and it needs to change. Our campaign will help us identify what specific issues patients are facing when dealing with the police across the country, and what changes can stop this from continuing to happen.”
Medical cannabis was legalised in November 2018 by Health Secretary Sajid David. The reclassification of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 allows specialist doctors who are members of the General Medical Council’s specialist register to prescribe medical cannabis for conditions for which there is evidence it may be beneficial to patients.
At present, medical cannabis is rarely prescribed by the NHS. The vast majority of patients are obtaining cannabis through prescriptions issued by private medical cannabis clinics. Current patient numbers are estimated to be between 32,000 and 35,000. The lack of NHS prescribing is often cited as a reason why police are unaware of the legality, with one patient reporting that a police liaison officer asked him to “direct me to the legislation in relation to cannabis being legal to purchase from private clinics – all I can find at the moment is in relation to NHS prescribing.”
Patients who wish to report negative experiences with the police can do so by filling in the questionnaire here.
