Over 1 Million UK Adults Eligible For New Medical Cannabis Card
From 1 November this year, over 1 million adults will be eligible to apply for a new exemption card, Cancard, which has been designed by medical cannabis patients to protect them from prosecution. The CDPRG and our unenumerated chairman Crispin Blunt are delighted to stand in full support of this initiative.
The card will help to facilitate a more open engagement with the police and the criminal justice system. Cancard was conceived by Carly Barton, the UK’s most prominent advocate for medicinal cannabis law reform.
Backed by representatives of every rank and file police officer in the country with a working group that includes senior officers from organised crime and the drugs lead for the National Police Chiefs Council, the new scheme is set to highlight both the inequity of access to medicinal cannabis and the near constant fear of 1.4 million adults, who regularly use cannabis for its therapeutic effect. It also highlights the unfair position that frontline officers have been put in when policing possession offences since the law changed in 2018.
Cancard is a holographic photo ID card which has been developed in collaboration with GPs and is verified at the patient's surgery. The card has been created for people who suffer from conditions that private healthcare clinicians have been prescribing for since 1 November 2018. Such treatments are currently unavailable in the NHS and remain beyond the means of all but a few patients.
Those eligible, and in possession of a Cancard, will be able to identify themselves to police as verified medicinal cannabis patients and will have access to an open source legal defence provided by Cancard should they require it. Patients will be able to register interest in the scheme as of Wednesday the 9th September so that they can be one of the first to officially apply on November the 1st 2020.
This groundbreaking initiative is the first such scheme in the UK to have active support from police, MPs, peers and doctors.
Source: Hinterlandco.com.au
“We all know that cases where patients have proved legitimate medicinal use are unlikely to make it to court, and if they do these cases are consistently dropped. This is especially the case when a patient presents with a condition that is being privately prescribed for. There is currently no way of identifying these people before emotional distress has been caused and public resources have been wasted. There is an opportunity to provide something that changes this by way of providing a service that benefits both the patients and the police.
Cancard should give patients peace of mind and police confidence in using their discretion before any stress has been caused to vulnerable people. Without a law change, we have national guidance and discretion with which to build a solution, both of which are huge parts of the design of Cancard. Having the police on-board with the design and implementation of this has been essential to make this a plausible project.”
“Despite the law change in November 2018 very few of the estimated 1.4 million people in the UK who consume cannabis for medical reasons have a prescription and thus face prosecution for treating their illness. This is a wretched situation both for patients who constantly fear a knock on the door from the police and for the police themselves who are in the unenviable position of having to arrest the sick. The Cancard initiative is a welcome step forward that provides necessary immediate relief and I look forward to even further progress to ensure this medicine is legally available to all who need it.”
“More than a million patients in the UK qualify for a private cannabis prescription for a range of conditions, but sadly many of them cannot afford this and so could face criminalisation if they are found in possession of what to them is a vital medicine.
The CanCard will provide them with assurance that their ill health will not lead to a criminal record, while it will also be a valuable tool to help frontline officers, saving them time by providing immediate verification of genuine medical patients and therefore giving them confidence to use their discretion. I want to praise Carly for her dedication and the collaborative work she has done with senior officers to get this important initiative off the ground.”
“I’m very grateful for the work that’s been completed so far which helps the Police service identify those that should be accessing their prescribed medication. This is a real live issue, where the Police service finds itself stuck in the middle of a situation where individuals should legitimately be accessing their prescribed medication, but, because of availability and cost they can’t and therefore to address their illness rely on having to use illicit cannabis. This can’t be acceptable and places the service in a position where we could be criminalising someone because of their illness.”
“More than a million patients will at last be free from the fear of arrest for taking their cannabis medicine to relieve their pain or suffering, thanks to the Cancard.”
“I did not join the police to arrest people who are simply unwell and trying to manage their symptoms or pain. In fact I joined to help people in that position. Initiatives such as Cancard are important because they give police officers vital information which they can use when they have to make decisions on the street.”
“Cancard removes stigma and offers patients the opportunity to speak to their GPs openly about any use of cannabis for medical intent. Opening up this conversation may additionally highlight unmet clinical needs that can be addressed by the GP. Unfortunately, the majority of people in the UK who could benefit from cannabis based
medicines are unable to cover the costs of a private clinic so are procuring elsewhere. Cancard ensures that these people do not have to suffer the additional burden of fear or anxiety of facing criminal charges for simply treating themselves with a medicine that they have found effective. Fortunately there are now a growing number of GPs who are recognising the value of cannabis for therapeutic purposes and are supportive of their patients who choose this alternative treatment pathway.”
How the card application will work:
- Patient calls their GP and gives permission for them to confirm their medical condition with Cancard. - Patient submits an application along with a passport photo and their GPs email address. - The GP is sent a form similar to that which is often requested for private health insurance, in that they are
merely confirming a diagnosis that meets the eligibility criteria for a private cannabis prescription. - The GP form comes back to Cancard signed for review via email. - The Cancard is released to the patient.
External links
More about the Primary Care Cannabis Network.
More about Carly’s Amnesty.