“It's a big added stress on top of being so ill”: The challenges facing people prescribed cannabis in the UK

•UK law changed in 2018 to permit cannabis prescribing. Cannabis remains otherwise criminalised. Participants experienced benefits from cannabis across a broad range of conditions.•Most people who need a cannabis prescription in the UK still cannot access one.•Poor implementation of cannabis prescri...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:The International journal of drug policy 2023-12, Vol.122, p.104220-104220, Article 104220
Hauptverfasser: Beckett Wilson, Helen, Metcalf McGrath, Lindsey
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:•UK law changed in 2018 to permit cannabis prescribing. Cannabis remains otherwise criminalised. Participants experienced benefits from cannabis across a broad range of conditions.•Most people who need a cannabis prescription in the UK still cannot access one.•Poor implementation of cannabis prescribing policy creates heath inequalities.•Intractable prohibition policy context continues to create social harms. This paper reports on the first qualitative study to interview people prescribed cannabis in the UK. Cannabis is a class B controlled substance under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs (MoD) Act, but a 2018 change to UK regulations provided for the prescription of cannabis for medical purposes. Relatively few people have been able to access a prescription, despite this policy change. This paper examines their experiences. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 people with a prescription for cannabis, or their carers. Data was analysed using a reflextive thematic analysis approach. The findings are discussed using a zemiology (social harms) perspective which provides a language for critical reflection on the current cannabis policy context. All participants reported that cannabis had significantly improved their mental and/or physical health, across a broad range of conditions. Many had been able to reduce their use of conventional medicines and reported that cannabis had relatively few side effects. Despite the potentially life-enhancing benefits of cannabis medicine, patients in the UK face multiple barriers to access. These include a lack of funding streams, bureaucratic supply problems, and a lack of training for doctors and police. Even for the few people able to obtain a prescription, the ongoing criminalisation of cannabis in the UK contributed to their experiences of stigmatisation. This often made it difficult and anxiety-inducing to take their medicine in public spaces. The UK government's lack of implementation of medical cannabis legalisation, combined with their ongoing prohibition position, is producing multiple harms to people who need cannabis medicine. The policy context is perpetuating stigmatising attitudes to cannabis which, as we demonstrate, contribute to social harms. We make recommendations on equality of patient access, and highlight the importance of education and policy change as means of combatting stigma.
ISSN:0955-3959
1873-4758
DOI:10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104220