Despite medical cannabis being legal in the UK since 2018, there is still a long way to go in terms of education and awareness surrounding the subject. As such, we often see mistakes being made by those who may well think they are acting correctly and in line with the law, but sadly aren't correct. Although this can be easily corrected, often it can cause unnecessary stress on the patient and in severe cases we have seen people unfairly dismissed from work, having their licenses removed and more. These will have retroactively been resolved but only after months of distress and impact.

Beyond this, there is also still a lot of stigma around cannabis use, a lot of which is outdated and simply not true. Assuming that anyone using medical cannabis must be stoned all the time, or that it's the 'devils lettuce' is a far cry from the reality that this alternative treatment is. Yes there are those who enjoy using it recreationally and use it to get 'stoned' but you can't tar everyone with that same brush. Frankly those that do that are no different those of us who enjoy a glass of wine and any assumption beyond this is outdated and somewhat discriminatory at this point.

So we have found it's important to open up the conversation and talk about it as it is, and help people understand that it isn't this nasty awful thing many still think it is. Since working in this industry in 2018 we have worked with thousands of people of all backgrounds and ages and seen the public perception change in this time slowly but surely. We have even been involved at giving educational talks and training with the police to help bring things beyond the powerpoint and into reality with real people, real stories and real legal medical cannabis in hand.

So with all that said, we were gutted when about 8 days ago a reddit user (u/sailorseventeen) shared a picture of this flyer that had been handed out by South Wales police...

The problem here is that unfortunately this represents some issues, and lack of understanding about cannabis in general. In particular it suggests that certain things legal patients would do should be seen as illegal or anti social.

It's spreading the negative bias at a time where the UK is growing rapidly in the medical cannabis space with tens of thousands of patients using it across the country. Many of which will be using medical cannabis as an alternative for addictive or problematic anti anxiety medications. So when you have these kinds of things being re enforced by the people who are supposed to be enforcing the law that protects your medical use, it cant be somewhat daunting.

Yes it is illegal to use cannabis in the UK without a legal prescription. So it certainly is correct that you could be arrested for it. However, much like an asthma pump, epilepsy medicaction, 'traditional' painkillers or other medications, there is no restriction on whether you happen to be near a youth premises. It's about being responsible with your prescribed medicine and often will be things in palce for this. In fact there will no doubt be teachers as well as students who are prescribed this medication that likely have reasonable adjustments in place to use this medication while at work/ school

Furthermore, although the smell is drastically reduced with medical cannabis by not smoking it, it does still have an odour when using a dry herb vape. As such naturally the smell of cannabis will be 'emanating' whilst you are using this. So to call this anti social behaviour is quite alarming. We're not arguing that if someone is smoking cannabis excessively and its clinging to your washing outside etc that it's ok. It isn't, there's a balance to be found. But the key thing here is, any legal and compliant medical patient wouldn't be doing that. They would be using a dry herb vape, where to smell doesn't cling to things and disapates quickly. However for a brief time it still may smell, how does your neighbour distinguish whether its ok when they smell cannabis between these teo scenarios? Well they don't need worry now, this flyer has made it clear it's anti social behaviour! You see the issue?  

So as you would expect the feedback from the community was strong, and we had not only seen it online but had heard about it from our other contacts in the industry this week. Things like this hit hard as when you work in this industry you have met so many people who have had their quality of life returned with this treatment. Whether its for chronic pain, anxiety or other complex conditions. 

Initially they felt relief from the legal protection and the success of their medical regimes. However subsequently they have encountered unjust bias and stereotyping. We've heard of people being called 'dirty stoners' whilst waiting in the queue at the post office because their dry herb vape had not long been turned off. A patient who uses it for social anxiety legitimately because they had issues with addicition to the traditional options their GP offered. The british public have a long way to catch up to reality of cannabis, and we hope that we can help raise awareness and education around this top. 

Now before someone starts calling me a police shill, don't get me wrong, this should never have been passed/ approved in the first place. It highlights that even with recent training pushes within the police forces, that there are some still gaps to plug. 

However given how things have been before, this is a huge achievement and you have to give credit where it's due. This is signs of times changing for the better. 

The information and understanding about how all of this works is finally trickling down and honestly that's great to see. So I must say fair play to South Wales police for handling this so well, and helping to raise awareness of this issue with your actions here. It may be nice to see similar flyer efforts in the form of a PSA around medical cannabis legality to help provide peace of mind to patients, as well as to reassure those who are concerned by the smell being illegal, that they may not have anything to worry about (Not that they ever did anyway..)

We have not only been involved in educational talks about this matter, but have spoken to others who are pro actively working throughout the UK by offering consultancy services to the police and other organisations to get up to speed on these matters. There are also clinics and pharmacies offering the same services as ultimately everyone just wants things to run smooth and effectively for everyone. That includes legal patients being left alone, and police saving work hours and budget by not chasing these things down or wasting money on flyers that have to be withdrawn after the fact. If South Wales Police would like to collaborate on educational talks, interviews or if we can help with training in any way, we would be more than happy to work together on a positive future for all of this. 

Things like this mark change and as much as this may seem like a little win for a merry little band of redditers, in many ways this is a historical moment showing the results of these changes in action. The fact that this was community lead and achieved but such a small group of people is amazing. 

Major congratulations to everyone and some respect points towards SW Police for handling this so well.

With all that said, I hope everyone has a lovely Easter Weekend!

- Rowan

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