One in Five UK Police Think Medical Cannabis is Still Illegal
Medical cannabis was legalised on prescription in the UK in 2018
Medical cannabis was legalised on prescription in the UK back in 2018, however, a cross-sectional study of a nationally representative sample of 200 officers revealed that 71.5% of officers were aware that cannabis is legal on prescription, 21% believed that it was not legal and the remaining 7.5% were not sure.
23.5% of those surveyed, almost a quarter, said they had never received any formal training on the topic of cannabis. 42.5%, just under half, thought that the training they had received was ‘inadequate’.
88.5% of the police officers reported that they felt that they would benefit from having more in-depth training on cannabis-based products for medicinal use including how to identify those who have legally prescribed cannabis.
What Were the Police Responses to Medical Cannabis Patients?
The officers surveyed were also questioned about the actions they had taken when engaging with patients who claimed to have been medically prescribed cannabis.
Overall 40% had found themselves in this position. The most common answers were to ask for evidence (42.5%), check the legitimacy of the claim with a doctor (13.8%), or seek advice from a coworker (10%).
Six (7.5%) responses described the citizen as being arrested, whilst two (2.5%) seized the person’s cannabis.
In the last five years, a substantial number of patients have documented hostile experiences with police over their cannabis prescriptions. This includes being arrested and having their medication confiscated.
This is the first study to evaluate the understanding of medical cannabis among the UK police force. The authors of the research show that a huge ratio (28.5%) of the police surveyed were not aware of the legal standing of cannabis in the UK four years after medical cannabis was legalised via prescription. Two-thirds of the police officers surveyed had obtained no training or inadequate training on the legality of medical cannabis products.
This hole in understanding can add to negative exchanges between police officers and legitimate medicinal cannabis patients. As the number of patients treated with cannabis continues to rise, police officers must be equipped with the proper education at both local and national levels.
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Liz Filmer
