Meeting of the Group: 29th October 2019

APPG for Drug Policy Reform - Quarterly meeting minutes

Forced to break the law: how should police respond to medical cannabis users?

Attendees

Chair: Jeff Smith MP

Speakers (external): Carly Barton, Abby Hughes, Stuart, Penny Fitzlyon, Lesley Gibson (video).

RSVPs: Steve Brine MP, Ruth Jones MP, Bob Seely MP, Ruth Cadbury MP, Julie Cooper MP, Crispin Blunt MP, Office of Bim Afolami MP, Baroness Verma, Baroness Meacher, Hannah Deacon (End Our Pain), Jonathan Deverill (DAC Beachcroft), Jason Kew (Thames Valley Police), Helen Williams (Office of North Wales PCC), Emma Vasey (MS Society), Paul Jones (North Wales Police), Kirstie Douse (Release), Joel Kyereme (WA Communications), Phil Monk (WTU), Gareth Morgan (WTU), Paul Taylor (WTU), Hannah Slater (CDPRG), Rob Wilson (CDPRG), Amber Moore (CDPRG).

Apologies: Neil Coyle MP, Luke Graham MP, Baroness Walmsley, Tommy Sheppard MP, Dr Daniel Poulter MP, Deidre Brock MP, David Drew MP, The Lord Puttnam CBE, Rt Hon David Mundell MP, Baroness Hamwee, Norman Lamb MP, Martyn Underhill (Dorset PCC), Jason Harwin (Lincolnshire DCC).

Secretariat: Mike Trace (Policy Advisor), Alex Worrell (Office of Jeff Smith MP), Tarsilo Onuluk (Office of Crispin Blunt MP), apologies from Frank Warburton and Hanna Head.

Meeting

JS

Jeff Smith, APPG co-Chair, welcomed guests and opened the meeting.
JS emphasised that while the APPG along with other groups continues to campaign for less restrictive NHS prescribing and to support initiatives which get medical cannabis to as many patients as possible legally, this meeting is specifically about the issue of police enforcement. The meeting will consider what needs to happen as a short term solution, how should Police approach someone who is forced to take matters into their own hands and access via black market/grow their own, what steps can we take so that these people are not unfairly criminalised or punished for self-medicating.

CB

Carly Barton spoke next. She had a stroke in her twenties that left her with intractable neuropathic pain. She weaned herself off 29 pharmaceuticals such as Fentanyl - 50 times stronger than street heroin - with herbal cannabis. She was the 1st patient to receive a prescription for cannabis in the UK after the law change in 2018. After her local CCG blocked the NHS prescription that was written by her pain specialist, and finding the £1500 monthly cost of a private prescription unmanageable, she was forced to go back to the illicit market. In order to obtain a safe supply, she now grows her own illegally at a cost of £40 per month. She has since launched a campaign called ‘Carly’s Amnesty’ to push for the introduction of non-prosecution agreements for patients in her situation. She is working with senior police on the project it is on the agenda for discussion at the next Drugs Strategy board meeting at the Home Office, where several high-ranking officers, crime commissioners and police organisations will be there in support of a slight law amendment so that they can run the scheme. CB explained her proposal will also be heard by the DPP, supported by a barrister.

Action: APPG to write a letter of support for Carly’s proposal to add to the case and help with legal representations following the case.

S

Carly then introduced Stuart who spoke about his experience. S was a firefighter but was diagnosed with MS in 1991, moving on to taking 999 calls before being medically retired in 1994. Having not tried cannabis before, S began accessing cannabis for medical use on the black market in 1995, finding it ‘worked wonders’ – but it was S’s wife who had to collect it for him, and S did not like ‘making a criminal of her’. When S’s wife went down to part-time employment, the couple could no longer afford to buy cannabis for S’s MS, so moved onto growing their own. In 2003 S began growing and experimenting with strains with different CBD and THC levels. S was aware he was on the wrong side of the law but due to the transformative impact cannabis had on his health, ‘not growing wasn’t an option’. Medical cannabis had allowed him to stop taking two gastric prescription medications and the anti-depressant, Citalopram, that he had been dependent on for over 15 years. No longer using Citalopram, S’s mind became clearer, meaning he was able to start volunteering for the MS Society, which he has continued to this day. In August 2019, S got a knock on the door from Sussex Police, to say someone had reported cannabis being grown at his address. S was told a week later that there would be no further actions because ‘it wasn’t in the public interest’, but he has been left living in fear of another knock on the door from the police.

AH

Abby Hughes then spoke about her own experiences. With 10 years' NHS service in Operational Management, AH now represents United Patients Alliance as Head of Outreach, incorporating advocacy, campaigning, and education to safeguard the patient voice in advancing legal access to cannabis therapeutics. She is also Patient Access Lead for Drug Science's Project TWENTY21, providing treatment to 20,000 patients in a national medical cannabis pilot, and is a founding member of PlantEd Collective, creating a dialogue around wellness, medicinal plants, and herbology at a time where society is actively stepping away from the synthetic. Under the care of a plethora of specialists for EDS and the long list of associated symptoms, AH has extensive knowledge of what it means to be a patient. She has been a long-term consumer of medical cannabis to combat chronic pain and fatigue, and to avoid the side effects of opioid pharmaceuticals. AH spoke about the unfairness of patients like herself living in fear of legal repercussions, and emphasised it was even worse for some people e.g. where racial discrimination was also a factor.

PF

Penny Fitzlyon next spoke. PF was diagnosed with MS in 2000, and first investigated medical cannabis after her second MRI scan in 2004, when nurses said it wouldn’t be long until she needed a wheelchair. Her first way of accessing medical grade cannabis was a club for patients called THC, on Caledonian Road, London. The owner, Tony Taylor, served over 2,000 patients, and to qualify you had to prove your disability with a letter from the GP. Everything was grown and prepared on site. PF said local police were aware of went on there and did not object. But eventually someone reported him and the strength of the tinctures that were made there, and the club was raided, with Tony receiving a prison sentences. PF said that sending Tony to jail meant that 2,000 disabled people were then forced to accessing cannabis on the black market. PF felt it wasn’t the police who had a problem with the activity, but maybe the CPS once it reached them. PF’s own neurologist has written her letters for the last 15 years stating that she uses cannabis and has had no relapses. PF’s local force are aware that she uses for her health and do not cause her any problems, but she worries about other police forces.

LG

The group then watched a short video of Lesley Gibson describing her experiences. LG is also an MS patient who uses cannabis to control her MS. She has a legal private prescription that costs over £1k every month, while she's been unable to access the medicine via the NHS. Unable to keep up with the costs, she is currently being prosecuted for home-growing cannabis for medicinal use. The CDPRG are supporting her with her case. LG’s trial will take place during 6th – 9th January 2020 and she has a crowdfunder that can be donated to.

JS

JS then summarised what the group had heard so far, adding there was clearly a gap between official CPS guidance and what some police forces and prosecutors were doing in practice. JS then opened to the floor for discussion of ideas and solutions.

Action: APPG to consider approaching Director of CPS to have a conversation.

An attendee suggested work could be done around the CPS guidance on prosecution of patients illegally growing their own cannabis. Suggested idea of voluntary interview instead.

An attendee suggested the CPS guidance around ‘whether it is in the public interest to prosecute an adult offender for an offence of simple possession of a small amount of cannabis for personal use, including where the person believes in its assistance in alleviating medical conditions’ could be built upon and expanded to include more explicit concessions for patients.

An attendee noted that changes would also need to be made to DPP guidance.

CB discussed her idea as part of ‘Carly’s Amnesty’ to have a voluntary register of those with medical conditions growing cannabis for personal use, which would provide them immunity from arrest. Kirstie Douse (Head of Legal at Release) expressed concerns around this, in that the list could be used to target people if it came under the control of a less sympathetic personality.

Jason Kew (Thames Valley police) spoke about some possible quick wins – such as patients having an easy-to-access doctor’s note/certificate that could be shown to a police officer contacting them, and having their own documentation of the necessary criteria for arrests and guidance around this to show to a potentially inexperienced police officer (e.g. is it in the public interest.) JK suggested a fact sheet could be produced and given to all patients to assist them, in the knowledge that for the time being police will act on intelligence given to them.

A suggestion was made that there should be something allowing for medical cannabis users written into tenancy agreements for social housing.

An attendee suggested the NPCC guidance around illegally grown medical cannabis should also be clarified/changed.

One attendee suggested there were actions patients could take to protect themselves – e.g. by reaching out to police pre-emptively to explain their situation. Though this would be somewhat high-risk and dependent on personalities.

An attendee suggested there may be an opportunity to get some helpful changes made off the back of the Dame Carol Black Review recommendations once they are published.

JK noted that the Police Federation’s policy is gradually changing as regards all drug law enforcement. Often, police officers do not want to enforce, but are under pressure from conflicting or unclear guidance.

Baroness Meacher noted lessons could be learned looking abroad to the US and the EU. In Germany there have now been around 80,000 cannabis prescriptions. Another emphasis amidst this needs to be educating the medical profession so that fewer patients are pushed into this predicament.

It was noted that HEE is looking to produce guidance around medical cannabis. Althea are producing their own research/guidance.

Was also noted that we should keep pushing for the shift of responsibility for drug policy from the Home Office to the Department for Health.

Another attendee noted that as an interim solution for those currently being forced to grow their own, patient membership organisations should be able to share guidance to all members and get the message of what can be done under current law and guidance out to everyone with a vested interest. Also to let them know that there are potential models being developed, and investment is going into looking at what can be done.