Medical Cannabis Awareness Week in the UK

This week marks the beginning of Medical Cannabis Awareness Week in the UK - and boy is this needed. Forgive the long-winded post, but I have a lot of thoughts on this one as it’s something I feel very passionate about.

Medical Cannabis has been legal in the UK for two years, but the country has been lagging behind in providing true access to patients. Since its introduction, only a small number of prescriptions have been issued by the UK’s National Health System (NHS), forcing patients to turn to the illicit cannabis market to treat chronic conditions. Not only is this expensive, but it’s extremely dangerous and completely avoidable. 

I had high hopes that the UK would take the learnings from their Canadian cousins and avoid some of the challenges we faced in the early days. There’s always room for improvement, but our system generally works well, and provides significantly greater patient access than the UK.

Lack of quality medical cannabis education and a cumbersome & bureaucratic prescribing process are two of the major issues preventing British patients from accessing cannabinoid therapy. 

With strong evidence indicating its efficacy in treating chronic pain, treatment resistant epilepsy, sleep disorders, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, etc.--and a lower risk of harm--medical cannabis should be part of every physician’s toolbox, where there is a legal system in place. 

With quality virtual training options that connect experienced cannabinoid medicine physicians with practitioners that require upskilling, it has never been easier for practitioners to advance their knowledge in this field. I’ve personally had the privilege of working 1:1 with hundreds of physicians around the world who felt their current knowledge was too limited to prescribe. Lack of education and “not feeling comfortable” are no longer valid excuses--especially in a healthcare system as well-respected as the NHS.

More information available here: https://bit.ly/3euU2Dn.