FEATURE
STATE
OF THE
NATION:
From MPs
endorsing
e-cigarettes
to regulating
cannabis?
British patients are still being refused access
to medical cannabis despite reforms
By Gordon Stribling
The question of whether the UK should
legalise cannabis use is one which is
unlikely to go away any time soon.
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.
Norman Lamb was also the chair of the
Science and Technology committee which
last year reported e-cigarettes needed
further endorsement at a government level
to combat stubborn smoking rates.
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,
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.”
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“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.
“IT IS
SHAMEFUL
THAT WE
CONTINUE TO
CRIMINALISE
PEOPLE WHO
USE CANNABIS
FOR THE RELIEF
OF PAIN.”
NORMAN LAMB, MP