United Patients Alliance (UPA) will relaunch its campaign at Brighton Medical Cannabis Summit in April.

The United Patients Alliance (UPA) Brighton Medical Cannabis Summit in April will bring together patients, doctors and other cannabis experts to discuss tackling stigma and expanding patient access in the UK. 

Despite medical cannabis being legal in the UK since 2018, stigma and access still remain a major issue for many. 

Figures from the NHS Business Service Authority show that out of more than 89,000 prescriptions for cannabis since the law change, fewer than five of these were granted through the NHS. Elsewhere, a survey found that over 80% of medicinal cannabis patients still experienced stigma despite having a legal prescription. 

The United Patients Alliance (UPA) returns to tackle medical cannabis challenges

The United Patients Alliance (UPA) is a patient-led non-profit that advocates for advancing legal access to medicinal cannabis in the UK. Founded by activist Clark French in 2014 after his own experiences using cannabis to treat symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), UPA’ efforts were instrumental in the campaign leading up to medical cannabis legalisation.

“Having a prescription has been game-changing for me,” French told Cannabis Health.

“Having that legal protection and being able to engage with society and knowing you don’t have to fight for acceptance anymore has been everything.” 

Read more at 

“As a community we’re more powerful than we’ve ever been” – United Patients Alliance relaunch hopes to advance patient access in the UK

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Kentucky lawmakers passed a bill to legalize medical cannabis in the state on Thursday, sending the proposal to Gov. Andy Beshear (D) who said he plans to “proudly” sign the legislation later today.

Kentucky lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill to legalize medical cannabis in the state, moving the legislation to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear (D), Spectrum News 1 reports. Beshear, on Twitter, said he plans to “proudly” sign the legislation today. The measure does not include smokable forms of cannabis but would allow patients enrolled in the program to access edible and concentrate products. 

Last year Beshear signed an executive order to legalize the possession of cannabis by some individuals suffering from severe medical conditions. Those reforms took effect on January 1, allowing individuals with a medical provider’s statement to possess up to eight ounces of cannabis for medical purposes if purchased legally in another state.      

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Kentucky Passes Medical Cannabis Legalization Bill

ICBC

Late last month lawmakers in Spain considered a cannabis reform measure, and while the measure did not pass, Spain’s emerging legal cannabis industry will undergo a fairly substantial expansion this year regardless. The Spanish Medicines Agency recently notified the International Narcotics Control Board that it plans to (roughly) quadruple the amount of legal medical cannabis grown within its borders.

As verified by Público, Spain’s Ministry of Health “has forecast a production of 23.43 tons of medical cannabis in Spain this year.” As required by international agreements, Spain has to notify the International Narcotics Board of the United Nations every year regarding how much domestic medical cannabis it projects it will produce. This year’s notification from Spain is obviously a considerable increase compared to last year.

WHY IT’S NOT ENOUGH

For some historical context, consider that in 2019 and 2020 Spain reported to the International Narcotics Board that it would cultivate 500 kilos each year. That figure increased in 2021 to a reported 600 kilos. The following year in 2020 the figure grew exponentially to a reported 6,000 kilos. This year’s reported forecast of 23.43 tons compared to just two years ago highlights how fast Spain’s medical cannabis industry is expanding. And yet, it’s not enough. Not even close.

The boost in cannabis production in Spain will benefit exports and research, however, it’s not going to help Spain’s regulated domestic medical cannabis industry being that Spain doesn’t really have one, at least not compared to many other nations. As pointed out by Público, only two medical cannabis pharmaceutical products are authorized in Spain right now (Sativex and Epidiolex).

As such, most patients rely on the unregulated market to source their medical cannabis products, including from unregulated clubs that operate in a ‘grey area’ of the law. Spain doesn’t just need a boost in domestic medical cannabis production – it also needs to reform its laws to embrace and develop the domestic medical cannabis industry in a way that helps as many patients as possible.

A BOOST FOR REFORM EFFORTS

Increasing domestic medical cannabis production in Spain is generally a good thing. If it helps suffering patients abroad via direct access to medical cannabis, that is still beneficial, and if it contributes to groundbreaking research that helps suffering patients around the world, that is also beneficial. With that being said, clearly, there is still a lot more that can and should be done.

Fortunately, Spain is about to receive a boost for reform efforts via the world’s largest cannabis super-event that starts later this week. On March 9th policymakers, industry leaders, and cannabis advocates from all over the globe will descend on Barcelona, first for the International Cannabis Business Conference (March 9th), and then for Spannabis (March 10th-12th). A limited number of tickets are still available for both events.

Read more at  https://internationalcbc.com/spain-to-quadruple-legal-medical-cannabis-production-this-year/?utm_source=ICBC+Combined+List+Newsletter+and+Outreach&utm_campaign=7adabf1204-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_03_06_09_34&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-7adabf1204-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D