Good evening. Here's what's moving in the world of medical cannabis today.
Guardian deep-dive: eight years on, why is medical cannabis still so hard to access?
The Guardian published a major feature this week tracing the story of Hannah Deacon and her son Alfie — whose battle with severe epilepsy became one of the defining cases that led to the 2018 law change. The piece asks a pointed question: given the legal shift, why does access remain so difficult for ordinary patients?
The article traces the gap between legalisation in principle and access in practice. Private clinics have proliferated — there are now more than 30 across the UK — but NHS prescribing remains negligible. Patients face costs of several hundred pounds per month, and many GPs remain unwilling or unable to support ongoing treatment. The piece is a sobering read for anyone who thinks the 2018 reform settled the matter.
UK reform in 2026: where does it stand?
Cannabis Europa published a comprehensive analysis of the UK policy landscape this week, and the picture is one of incremental progress rather than breakthrough. The medical market continues to grow through private prescribing, but the defining tension remains: legal access in principle versus affordable access in practice.
The piece highlights Germany as the key reference point for UK policymakers. Germany's phased legalisation from 2024 demonstrated that a major European economy can implement adult-use reform within international treaty frameworks. Whether that accelerates UK reform or complicates it is genuinely contested — but the German experience is now part of every serious policy conversation in Westminster.
Cross-party parliamentary groups continue to push for evidence reviews of UK drug policy. Public polling consistently shows majority support for some form of reform. The conditions that precede legislative change — political engagement, public support, international precedent — are all in place. But the government's position remains cautious, and the Home Office has shown no appetite for revisiting cannabis scheduling in the current parliament.
Cannabis Europa London
The major European cannabis policy conference returns to London next week. The agenda includes panels on NHS prescribing pathways, the German model, patient access frameworks, and the evolving regulatory landscape across Europe. Speakers include clinicians, researchers, patient advocates, and policymakers from across the continent. We'll be covering the key sessions and announcements.
