Over seven years after medical cannabis was legalised in the UK, the National Police Chiefs’ Council has approved the first official guidance for medical cannabis.
The guidance, titled ‘Medicinal Cannabis and the Police – Guidance for Officers and Staff’, crucially calls for officers in England and Wales to adopt a ‘patients first, until proven otherwise’ philosophy when handling encounters involving prescribed medical cannabis.
While its authors readily admit this is ‘not a complete answer’, it marks a critical first step, openly recognising that there are glaring knowledge and education gaps within law enforcement and extending a welcome olive branch to patients and industry to work towards a standardised approach.
Richard List QPM, a retired Detective Chief Superintendent and head of the Drugs Squad who authored the guidance, told Business of Cannabis: “In a liberal democracy, if you’re a patient and you’ve had a controlled drug that’s legitimately prescribed by a doctor, you shouldn’t have to worry about any interference from the police.”
The knowledge gap
According to data from UK medical cannabis clinic Alternaleaf, which surveyed 2,000 of its patients, almost one in five have been challenged by police about their medication.
Separate research from the clinic found that 30% of patients experience anxiety about using their medicine in public, with most of that fear stemming from potential police encounters, a figure List says surprised him when he first saw it.
You need only glance at patient forums like r/UKMedicalCannabis to understand why such anxiety exists in the patient population when it comes to dealing with law enforcement.
Repeated stories and calls for advice from the community tell of officers rejecting claims that medical cannabis ‘is a thing’, even when presented with prescription documentation, falsely stating that it is ‘always illegal’ and even laughing at attempts to justify their medication.
These encounters, while not experienced by every patient, point to officers who either misunderstand what’s legal (‘only on the NHS and never flower’) or don’t know medical cannabis is legal at all. This too often results in patients spending time in jail cells, having their medication confiscated, and having their jobs or rental contracts jeopardised.
However, it is crucial to note that the majority of such cases are not the result of bad policing, but simply a severe lack of training and education, even at higher levels.
List, who led Thames Valley Police’s Intelligence and Specialist Operations Command for years, explained that even he was previously in the dark about medical cannabis.
“I didn’t know anything about medicinal cannabis. I dealt with a lot of illicit cannabis, but medicinal cannabis was completely different to me… I was so naive about it… I thought that it would be quite a sterile green pill or something like that. So it was a complete eye-opener to me,” he explained.
“Most of those officers on the street have got less than two years service, and if they’re not necessarily being trained, if this isn’t part of the curriculum, and bear in mind that curriculum has got quite a lot to cover, we’re not going to be able to influence… the hearts and minds to think medicinal cannabis is something very, very different from cannabis.”
Alex Fraser from Patient Protect, an organisation that supports patients facing discrimination, says the guidance represents a turning point: “It’s enormously reassuring to see this publication from the APCDLO—the first public recognition of medical cannabis patients from a UK policing body.
“At Patient Protect, we support patients who have had problematic, often discriminatory interactions with police and other authorities. Documents like this are enormously helpful, serving to provide much-needed clarity and advice for police officers and empowering patients to feel safe.”
Why now?
This knowledge gap is also a key part of how this new guidance came about, and why it has taken more than a decade to establish.
After retiring from the police in 2021, List took a part-time position as Controlled Drug Liason Officer. He told Business of Cannabis that medical cannabis advocates first caught his attention during the Association of Police Controlled Drug Liaison Officers’ annual conference. Intrigued, he began examining what guidance existed for police forces.
“The National Police Chiefs’ Council had some draft guidance. This was outdated, inaccurate, and frankly not fit for purpose,” List explains.
“Healthcare partners are obviously critical within the whole cannabis arrangement. Much more important than the police.”
Recognising the gap, List decided the APCDLO would write their own guidance. Over the next few months, he consulted extensively with healthcare partners, private clinics and government agencies to produce a document that was then submitted to the NPCC for approval.
Upon consulting with companies like Releaf and Alternaleaf, they raised some major issues with the current policy and helped shape these guidelines.
“I wish I’d have consulted with them before. It is going to need another version at some time in the future, undoubtedly,” he admits, but emphasises that this is a crucial first step, a view which has been widely echoed throughout the industry.
“Generally speaking, the response has been very good, because generally what they’ll say is, we haven’t got knowledge, and they haven’t got guidance, which, at least now, there is some guidance available.”
Nabila Chaudhri, Medical Director of the UK’s leading online medical cannabis clinic Alternaleaf, said: “This new guidance is a step in the right direction. We know many police officers are still not aware that medical cannabis is legal, so this guidance must be backed up by training.”
In November 2024, these initial guidelines were approved by the NPCC, meaning that they are now official policy for all 43 police forces in England and Wales, rather than merely advisory.
“I have to admit, this is a bit of a journey for me. It’s not something that’s centrally directed by the police, albeit that it is now agreed by the NPCC, so it is official police policy.”
A starting point, not a solution
List is candid that ‘there are still big gaps here’, but adds that there are ‘gaps everywhere’. Airport security, Royal Mail, local councils, and even the NHS all lack basic training and education for staff around medical cannabis.
With prescriptions doubling from 150,000 to 300,000 in just one year, according to CQC data, these encounters will only become more frequent. The question is whether systems can adapt fast enough to meet the reality on the ground.
For now, patients finally have what List calls ‘something to hang a hat on’, a reference point when challenged, and official acknowledgement from a policing body that they are patients first, not suspects. But transforming a document into actual cultural change within 43 police forces, each with its own training schedules and priorities, will require sustained effort that goes far beyond this document, including industry collaboration.
“There is clearly a real demand here to increase knowledge about medicinal cannabis, and I would say, not just in the police, but also within the NHS, amongst employers and wider society.
“We really need to make sure that we get this message into the heads of street cops,” List says. “That’s really going to make the difference.”
Cannabis Health & Business of Cannabis will be publishing a comprehensive breakdown of what the guidance actually says, including its stance on Cancards, clarifications on vaping and smoking, and what it means for medical cannabis patients stopped while driving, imminently.
This article was originally published by Business of Cannabis and is reprinted here with permission.
