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Why a Medical Cannabis Not-for-Profit Started a Motorsports Team | PatientsCann UK® Skip to content Founder’s story Medical cannabis & motorsport Driving Out Cannabis Stigma Why a Medical Cannabis Not-for-Profit Started a Motorsports Team Before I knew medical cannabis was legal in the UK, motorsport was already my life. By Sal Aziz PatientsCann UK® Motorsports Team Founder’s story Team launch · Thruxton On this page Getting through the gate Becoming a patient When my case became policy Finding another route Why I have to race References One of my earliest racing memories is being told off for swearing after losing on Need for Speed: Underground. In my defence, I was only replicating my father! A few years later, he introduced me to Formula 1 after Lewis Hamilton joined the grid. I began watching properly in 2008 and was immediately hooked, waking at the crack of dawn when needed to see every race live. The highlight was Brazil 2008. My father walked out during the final lap, believing the championship was over, moments before Martin Brundle exclaimed: “Is that Glock?!” I had to scream for him to come back. I wanted to be part of that world, but racing appeared impossibly expensive. Even arrive-and-drive karting was beyond my budget. Then I discovered marshalling. Getting in Getting Through the Gate In 2021, I attended American SpeedFest at Brands Hatch. COVID restrictions meant unusually small crowds, giving the freedom to explore. Watching the marshals made me realise there was no reason I could not join them. I volunteered and was immediately hooked. Driving onto a circuit for the first time, even at 30 mph to reach my post, felt momentous. I was finally part of motorsport rather than watching from behind a screen or spectator fence. I went on to marshal events ranging from grassroots racing at Anglesey to the British Touring Car Championship and Goodwood Festival of Speed. I can even add “told Gordon Ramsay where to park at Goodwood” to my CV. Sal marshalling at Goodwood, as seen on Sky Sports F1. (Image source: Sky UK, used for illustrative purposes under Fair Dealing). “Told Gordon Ramsay where to park at Goodwood.” (Image source: Sky UK, used for illustrative purposes under Fair Dealing). I also competed in car trials, taking my Daewoo Lacetti off-road to see how far it could travel through marked sections. It was not Formula 1, but it was affordable, competitive and enormous fun. Author competing in a car trial (Image source: Woolbridge Motor Club, used for illustrative purposes under Fair Dealing). Treatment Becoming a Patient After a road trip through the Netherlands and an eventual drug-driving investigation in which I was found to be below the applicable limit, despite testing a wide range of cannabis products, I began exploring medical cannabis through the proper clinical route. My initial consultation took place on a Saturday morning at Silverstone before a day of marshalling. Once I began treatment, I noticed immediate improvements. Chief marshals commented positively on my performance. I completed the required health declarations and passed my flag assessment while openly prescribed medical cannabis. Author flag marshalling at the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (Image source: GP1, used for illustrative purposes under Fair Dealing). Flag marshalling requires concentration, communication and rapid decisions in a safety-critical environment. I performed that role successfully and was excited to return to Goodwood for a second year, this time in the Supercar Paddock. Then a member of the public reported a marshal using cannabis. The report The Report That Began With a Smell I immediately acknowledged that the cannabis was mine and explained that it was legally prescribed for anxiety. I expected that explanation to resolve the concern. Instead, I was removed from post while senior Motorsport UK personnel were contacted. I was eventually permitted to continue in the lower-risk Supercar Paddock while the matter was reviewed. No performance failure or near miss had prompted the intervention. My medicine had become visible because of its smell. An odourless tablet may remain private. Cannabis flower can announce a patient’s treatment before they choose to discuss it. Smell is not evidence of impairment, but it can activate assumptions inherited from cannabis prohibition. That report eventually became much bigger than my individual case. Policy When My Case Became Policy In February 2024, Motorsport UK introduced Version 1 of a new signing-on declaration. It asked officials and marshals to confirm that they did not have disabilities or mental-health conditions, use drugs on the WADA Prohibited List, or take medication that might affect their duties. Motorsport UK later explained that the change followed reports during 2023 involving physical capability, mental health and the “substance use of colleagues”. I recognised myself in two parts of that explanation. Anxiety was my declared mental-health condition. Prescribed cannabis was my treatment, but it was apparently being framed as “substance use”. Although I was not named, the description reflected the defining features of my case. Version 1 of the officials declaration. Version 1 backfired horribly. Disabled volunteers and marshals taking medicines including blood thinners and asthma treatments began questioning whether they were still eligible. Medical cannabis was also independently identified as a problem. Within days, Motorsport UK issued Version 2, returning to a more sensible functional question: did the person’s condition or treatment adversely affect their duties? Version 2 of the officials declaration. But medical cannabis remained explicitly prohibited. My interpretation is that Version 1 attempted to capture cannabis through broad language about mental health, medication, “substance use” and the WADA list without initially announcing a cannabis-specific ban. When that language affected too many other volunteers, it was reversed, but cannabis patients remained excluded. I cannot prove the private intentions of those who wrote the policy. What I can say is that my case was followed by Version 1, the backlash, Version 2 and ultimately a categorical medical cannabis prohibition. Motorsport UK Public UK Licence Suspensions Register. Responsibility The Ban Is Not My Fault, but It Followed My Case I did not ban medical

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Race Report: Thruxton Retro, 4 July 2026 | PatientsCann UK® Skip to content Race report Thruxton Retro Team launch Race Report: Thruxton Retro, 4 July 2026 The PatientsCann UK® Motorsport Team successfully launched at Thruxton Retro on 4 July 2026, with founder Sal Aziz completing 15 drag-racing runs in his Vauxhall Insignia estate. By PatientsCann UK® Motorsports Team Race report Thruxton, 4 July 2026 15 runs completed On this page Preparing the car Arrival at Thruxton A green light Racing through the middle Fifteen runs Just the beginning References After securing a NORA Motorsport licence with his medical cannabis prescription declared, Sal immediately began looking for an opportunity to return to competitive motorsport. Thruxton was the natural choice. It was the circuit where Sal had first entered motorsport as a marshal, making it the perfect place to relaunch his motorsport career from behind the wheel. The build Preparing an Unlikely Race Car Preparation for the event was suitably grassroots. Sal crudely applied a cannabis-themed livery to his Vauxhall Insignia estate before we posted a teaser on social media. Despite the appearance, we were generating attention before the car had even reached the start line. The teaser: a cannabis-themed livery applied to the Vauxhall Insignia estate. Livery detail: a sports team for cannabis patients. The Insignia was not built for drag racing. It is a diesel estate, complete with a roof box, rather than one of the specially prepared machines normally associated with the drag strip. The team knew the Insignia was unlikely to be competitive against dedicated racing machinery. The first objective was simply to take part. A diesel estate with a roof box in the paddock, among purpose-built machinery. Race day Arrival at Thruxton Sal drove to Thruxton feeling the familiar mixture of excitement and nerves that accompanies any motorsport event. This time, however, those emotions were amplified by everything he had experienced in the sport. This was more than his first drag-racing event. It was his return to competitive motorsport as an openly prescribed medical cannabis patient. It was also the public launch of a team created to challenge the stigma and exclusion patients continue to experience. On arrival, event staff were understandably surprised to discover that the Vauxhall Insignia estate with a roof box was there to race. But one of the attractions of a Run What You Brung event is contained in the name: almost anything can be raced. Sal was directed to Thruxton’s runway, which had been transformed into a drag strip for the event. After signing on, the Insignia passed scrutineering and was cleared to take part. The unlikely race car was ready. Thruxton’s runway, transformed into a drag strip for the event. Launch A Green Light for the Team Sal drove into the staging area and joined the queue alongside a remarkable mixture of machinery. The entry included purpose-built drag cars, powerful performance vehicles, modified classics and ordinary road cars. As he moved towards the front of the queue and began staging at the lights, the significance of the moment finally sank in. To an observer, it may have looked like somebody preparing to drive an estate car quickly down a straight runway. To Sal and PatientsCann UK®, it represented something far greater. A medical cannabis patient who had been excluded from one pathway into motorsport had found another. He had declared his prescription, obtained a licence, passed scrutineering and reached the start line through the relevant processes. The lights changed. Sal accelerated down Thruxton’s runway. With that first green light, the PatientsCann UK® Motorsport Team was officially launched. Staging at the lights on Thruxton’s runway. The PatientsCann UK® Motorsports Team launch at Thruxton Retro. Symbolism Racing Through the Middle The location made the moment especially symbolic. Thruxton’s runway sits inside the main circuit. While Sal completed his runs under the NORA and Straightliners framework, Motorsport UK-regulated activity was taking place on the circuit around him. He was literally racing in the middle of the motorsport environment from which prescribed medical cannabis patients had been excluded under a different governing system. Same patient. Same prescription. Same condition. Different governance. PatientsCann UK® Motorsport Team The contrast demonstrated why PatientsCann UK® believes that transparent, evidence-based participation processes are possible. Safety remains essential, but automatic exclusion is not the only way in which a governing body can respond to legally prescribed medication. The results Fifteen Completed Runs 15 Completed runs 11.07s Best time 64mph Top terminal speed Once the first-run nerves had settled, Sal returned to the staging lanes repeatedly throughout the day. He raced against everything from specialist drag machinery to conventional road cars. Unsurprisingly, the diesel estate was not troubling the fastest competitors, but outright performance was never the primary objective. The official results record 15 completed runs. Sal’s best time was 11.07 seconds, with his runs generally finishing at between 61 and 64 mph. His highest recorded terminal speed was 64 mph. More importantly, Sal participated consistently throughout the event while managing and using his legally prescribed medication. One event cannot establish that every medical cannabis patient is suitable for every motorsport role. Patients, roles and circumstances differ. However, the day demonstrated that a prescribed patient could disclose their medication, follow a governing body’s process and participate repeatedly in a live motorsport environment. One of 15 completed runs down Thruxton’s runway. Perspective More Than a Result There were no trophies for the PatientsCann UK® Motorsport Team at Thruxton Retro, and the Insignia estate did not suddenly become a thoroughbred drag car. The achievement was reaching the start line at all. Each completed run made medical cannabis patients visible within motorsport for the right reasons: participating openly, following the rules and contributing to the event alongside everyone else. The day also showed what accessible motorsport can look like. Sal did not arrive with a purpose-built car, a professional crew or a huge racing budget. He arrived in his everyday Vauxhall estate with a homemade livery and a roof box. And he raced it.

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