FEATURES
State of the Nation: The UK
British patients are still being refused access to medical
cannabis despite reforms
The question of whether the UK
should legalise cannabis use is one
which is unlikely to go away any
time soon.
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alcohol, is consumed in large quantities
right here in our national parliament, whilst we
criminalise others for using a less dangerous
drug – with many using it for the relief of
pain.”
“It is shameful that we continue to criminalise
people who use cannabis for the relief of
pain. It is equally shameful that we criminalise
many young people for using cannabis,
when many people in Government will
have themselves used cannabis at some
stage of their lives.”
While it was unlikely that the bill would
have progressed much further, the fact that
it even made it to the House of Commons
reflected the growing appetite for drug
reform among the UK public.
Campaign group End Our Pain estimate
that around a million people in the UK
use cannabis as medicine every day, most
obtaining it on the black market at a risk
to their safety and the threat of criminal action.
Following intense public pressure, Home
Secretary Sajid Javid announced that
specialist doctors would be allowed to
prescribe cannabis in the UK. The new
law came into effect on November 1, but
the reform has proven to be far less of a
medical revolution than campaigners had
hoped for.
A recent poll commissioned by think tank
Volteface found that the majority of the
public supported the legalisation of cannabis,
including 68 percent of 18 to 24-year olds.
As recently as December the whole
legalisation issue even made it to the House
of Commons where Liberal Democrat MP
Norman Lamb sought the legalisation of
cannabis for medical and recreational use.
MPs narrowly rejected the former health
minister’s motion on the legalisation and
regulation of cannabis by 66 to 52.
Mr Lamb said afterwards: “It is total
hypocrisy that the most dangerous drug
of all, in terms of harm to yourself and others,