Campaigners marched through Cardiff city centre to Cardiff Bay on Saturday calling for the legalisation of cannabis in the UK. Organised by Terry Wakefield, from Cardiff, the protest – the first to happen in Wales since 2019 due to Covid – included around 300 marchers also calling for more openness and education around the use of the drug.
It remains illegal to possess, grow, and distribute cannabis in any form in the UK although it is legal to use for medicinal purposes if prescribed by a doctor. On a weekend where identical marches were also happening across the UK and globally a number of campaigners explained how prescribed cannabis has helped them.
According to the Office for National Statistics since 1995 cannabis has consistently been the most used drug in Wales and England. In 2020 some 7.8% of adults aged 16 to 59 reported using cannabis. According to the figures 18.7% of 18-to-24-year-olds reported using the drug.
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Terry, who has attended the event in Cardiff since 1999, said taboos around cannabis in Britain were pushing the trade underground. “Cannabis is my medicine. I suffer complex PTSD and this march might sometimes be the only time I’m outside,” she said. “If I was in a position where I could go to my GP and ask for a prescription I would do.
“If we are able to consume cannabis in the UK then we should have a right to grow our own. The more this stays illegal the more it will be pushed underground and the more gangs and slaves in Britain.”
Jonathan Anthony from Cardiff uses cannabis for medicinal purposes and collects his prescription each month but he has to go private. According to DrugScience since cannabis was legalised for medical use through prescription in the UK only three prescriptions have been issued on the NHS. Jonathan says it means legal cannabis use is only available to those who can afford it.
“I’ve had to ask my dad to pay for the prescription before and I was so grateful that he understood and did,” Jonathan said. “People still look at me funny sometimes. It is a taboo.
“I would never have touched it years ago. I was an Army reserve and to touch cannabis was a no-go. Then I realised how much it helped me.
“I have a condition which badly affects my knees. Someone offered it to me on the off-chance it might work and it did. I realised there might be something in it and while my GP didn’t condone it he was supportive of me.
“I was finally able to get a legal prescription and it has changed my life. I’m better at home and at work. I’m a chef and I can finally do things I’d lost the ability to do. I’m so much more productive. It’s so important it is more available to everyone on the NHS who needs it.” You can sign up to our Cardiff newsletter here.
Dr David Howells, who is a doctor at Cannabis Clinic in Cardiff – a private clinic offering consultations and legal use – said: “I believe there is an evidence base for cannabis-based treatment for people who have tried other treatments which haven’t worked, especially for symptomatic relief but also for quality of life. I think people should be allowed to have a right to access healthcare in a way that really suits them.
“People might believe they have a cannabis product which works for them but it might not be the case over time. There can be impurities, moulds, bugs – these are things I think unwell people should not have to put up with. That is why we set up this service.”
Phil Monk suffers with chronic myofascial pain from joint hypermobility spectrum disorder – a genetic condition which he says has caused torn muscles and joint problems. He now uses a wheelchair after 14 operations. He called laws criminalising cannabis in the UK “corrupt”.
“This is destroying people’s liberties,” he said. “I have come here to stand up against it. I used to be fit and strong and climb mountains all the time. Now I use cannabis for medicinal, relaxation, creative, and nutritional purposes. Cannabis makes my life bearable. If I didn’t use it I’d have been dead a long time ago.”
