A new petition calling for UK medical cannabis patients to be permitted to grow their own medicine has gathered over 2,000 signatures.
Thousands of patients are calling on the Government to allow those who have a legal prescription for medical cannabis to grow their own medicine for personal use.
Its aim is to relieve some of the financial burden placed on patients who are forced to access their prescriptions privately due to products not being available on the NHS.
Over 2,400 people have signed the petition, which was set up by a medical cannabis patient Jay Charnley and states: “My prescription costs over £1,000 a month, I struggle to pay for it all. I want the Government to legalise the cultivation of cannabis for medical users that already have a prescription for medical cannabis so that patients who cannot afford their prescription can have access to this medicine.”
Several patients told Cannabis Health that they would like to see grow your own licenses granted to patients, particularly to those with less financial resources or whose needs aren’t met by the products which are currently available.
Nathan Taylor, a medical cannabis patient in Northern Ireland, who suffers from cPTSD, says the costs are unsustainable, particularly in light of planned changes to the Project Twenty21 pricing model due to come into force in March.
“Medical cannabis has completely changed my life for the better, in so many ways it’s actually unbelievable. I’m able to live a normal life without fear, but the price increase means that I’m just going to wait until I can legally grow my own medication. It’s devastating but has made me so determined to try and get this petition at least talked about in parliament,” said Nathan, who would like to see patients pay a yearly license fee and be permitted to grow up to four plants at a time.
“The local authorities will know exactly what we’re doing in a safe and controlled environment. I live in Northern Ireland so I’m certainly not going down the route of black market cannabis. It’s not worth the risk for so many reasons.”
Nathan added that until we have NHS access to medical cannabis products, this petition is the best hope for patients struggling to fund their prescriptions.
“We all need to get together and fight for this petition,” he said.
“Why should I be forced to take pharmaceutical drugs with lots of extreme side effects and that don’t work when I know that cannabis helps me live a normal life? I feel very strongly that being able to grow my own would benefit my mental health itself as a hobby that I know I would really enjoy and something I believe I would be very good at. I believe it’s our right to grow our own medication.”
Benefits to health
Pious*, a medical cannabis patient based in England, said he supports the idea of a grow your own license being issued on “compassionate grounds”.
“I think a license to grow your own cannabis should be granted on compassionate grounds, for patients living at or below the poverty line and those with disabilities and patients where their needs can’t be met by the current supply of products,” he said.
“For example, if someone wanted to grow enough cannabis to start pressing flower to produce oils for chronic pain or make topicals and it’s not [currently] cost effective to do so and takes away from their prescribed cannabis supply.”
Responding on Twitter, patients highlighted a range of benefits to being able to grow your own medicine, including the freedom to grow specific strains to suit their conditions.
Chronic pain and fibromyalgia patient, Jane Hinchcliffe said: “Apart from giving you a hobby, growing your own medicine is very rewarding and you can select the best strains for your conditions, [there is] no need for irradiation and no need for chemicals, so benefits all round.”
User @TheNewImpostor, added: “Different strains of cannabis contain unique cannabinoid and terpene profiles, and thus provide a variety of identifiable effects. People can therefore choose to grow the strain which has the most benefits in medicating their particular illness.”
Others pointed out the general health and wellbeing benefits to growing and spending time with plants, as well as the positive impact on the environment.
Jim Finch, who uses cannabis to manage his Tourette’s, commented: “Not only would I get the benefit of my own organic product at an affordable price, it’s been proven over and over that spending time with plants is a benefit to health and wellbeing. As cannabis is a plant I’m sure one can conclude growing would have a positive health impact.”
The petition has until March 2022 to collect 10,000 signatures in order to get a response from the Government. At 100,000 it would be considered for debate in Parliament.
The right to grow
However, Phil Monk, a cannabis patient, campaigner and co-founder of We The Undersigned (WTU), told Cannabis Health he felt unable to sign the petition, as those who did not have the resources to access a prescription in the first place, would lose out.
“I believe all should have the right to cultivate cannabis, not only those who qualify for a prescription,” said Phil.
“There is a huge amount of financial, social and medical discrimination against those who are too poor to access a private prescription of cannabis for medical purposes, neither will the NHS grant them lawful access.”
WTU campaigns for all adults to have the right to legally grow and consume cannabis, not just those with a diagnosed health condition.
Phil continued: “WTU believes cannabis should not only be available to the sick and dying. Cannabis should also be available to the healthy, who wish to use cannabis as a prophylactic, in order to reduce the stress in their life to alleviate, celebrate or mourn the exigencies of daily life, thereby increasing their sense of well-being and health. This is especially important for people that choose cannabis to unwind, instead of alcohol, which has been shown to be more harmful and toxic by comparison, with even more potential for addiction, disease and misuse.”
He added: “Given that every human being has an endocannabinoid system, which is proven essential in the maintenance of homoeostasis at a cellular level, it stands to reason that all human beings should also have the right to cultivate cannabis for their own private needs, without a license until engaging in corporate activities to put products to market for profits.”
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
The post Should cannabis patients be allowed to grow their own medicine? appeared first on Cannabis Health News.
