The UK’s medical cannabis industry is now the second largest in Europe, second only to Germany, thanks to consistent and sustained growth over the last seven years.
While this has seen thousands of new patients gain access to medical cannabis, it still represents just a fraction of the addressable market in the UK.
According to Prohibition Partners, the UK’s current patient count (estimated at between 50k -60k) represents less than 10% of the total medical market, compared to Germany’s 65.4%.
This chasm between active patients and those who could potentially benefit from medical cannabis treatment is in large part due to glaring gaps in education among medical professionals, hindering both medical cannabis acceptance and prescription numbers since it was legalised in 2018.
Now, the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society (MCCS) and Curaleaf Laboratories have formed a new partnership aimed at addressing this critical knowledge gap.
Education gap
Jonathan Hodgson, UK Managing Director of Curaleaf International, believes the company’s longstanding involvement and proven expertise in unlicensed medicines provide the perfect foundation for clinician training.
“A lot of the staff who have been involved since the original specials and unlicensed medicines route are still here, which gives us an advantage from a quality and a regulatory perspective,’ he said.
“We’ve helped patients and clinicians alike address unmet clinical needs through unlicensed medicines for a long time. While the adoption of medical cannabis is only in its infancy, we want to help widen access to this option.”
Curaleaf’s strategy has placed clinician engagement at its core, reflecting the central role doctors play in ensuring appropriate use.
“Providing education has always been hugely important to us,’ Hodgson continued.
“In order for us as a medical community to adequately support patients, it is important that healthcare professionals are able to access much-needed education on cannabis-based medicines so they can help their patients through guiding access or prescribing directly.”
Industry takes the lead
Curaleaf already runs workshops, in-practice support and tailored educational programmes for private providers, including clinics not yet prescribing cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs).
Its in-house training covers Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration, insurance, dosing and formulary advice, and prescription support. It also engages directly with clinicians through events such as the British Pain Society’s annual conference.
Through the new partnership, Curaleaf will support the MCCS in delivering CPD-accredited education programmes and serve as a central source of information for prescribers.
Professor Mike Barnes, Chair of the MCCS, welcomed the collaboration: “The Society is very grateful to have the support of Curaleaf Laboratories.
“We believe the shared values and vision of the team will enable us to continue our work empowering professionals with evidence-based CPD-accredited cannabis education, and we look forward to working together with the ultimate goal of enabling more patients to benefit from these therapies.”
Hodgson added: “Our partnership with MCCS solidifies our commitment to providing further education to prescribers and the wider HCP network in the UK. We have already made big waves in HCP education, and we look forward to further improving our programme with the help of the expertise of the MCCS.”
