As Number Of Medical Marijuana Patients In UK Skyrockets, Non-Profit Launches Crowd-Funder To Run Cannabis Legalization Campaign

Transform Drug Policy Foundation, a registered non-profit charity based in the United Kingdom working towards a safer system of legal regulation for all drugs announced on Thursday that is undertaking new efforts to legalize marijuana.

In a post on X, the non-profit launched a crowd-funder to run a campaign to legalize and regulate recreational cannabis. In just one day, they collected 3% or £1,650 ($2,128) of the £50,000 target with the help of 28 supporters. The fund-raising effort will close on August 30, 2024.

Transform Drug Policy Foundation prides itself on having advised governments in Canada, Germany, Malta, Luxembourg, Uruguay and Mexico. The goal behind this cannabis reform is "to protect our young people, prioritize health and social justice, and to reduce crime."

As an independent charity that receives no government funding, it relies on financial help to launch cannabis legalization campaigns. The organization will use the money to work with key experts and impacted communities, produce new analyses on the economic opportunities of a regulated cannabis market and ensure it gains the attention of the new Labor government and wider public.

It will also "analyze global cannabis reforms and learn lessons for the UK on what's worked, and what hasn't. Build cross-party support in Parliament, promoting and informing debate in both houses, in all party groups, and in select committees, as well as developing a Private Members Bill to serve as a rallying point for reform in Westminster."

Read Also: Will UK Cannabis Laws Change Under New Labour Government? Doesn’t Look That Way Just Yet

Number Of Medical Marijuana Patients Growing

The push to launch a cannabis legalization campaign coincides with a significant increase in patients seeking medical marijuana as an alternative treatment for chronic pain and mental health conditions.

One medical marijuana clinic, in Westminster, Mamedica told the BBC that patient numbers grew more than tenfold in 2023, from 250 to 2,750.

CEO Jon Robson said this was down to a "large number of patients who are transitioning to us not just from the illicit market, but because they haven't found the treatments that the NHS can provide to be sufficient for their conditions".

While it is possible to access medical marijuana through the National Health Service (NHS), this rarely occurs and only in severe cases of epilepsy, chemotherapy-caused nausea or certain cases of muscle stiffness associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). Since medical marijuana is not widely available via the NHS, many families struggle to afford life-saving medicine for their children.

The majority of Mamedica patients use medical marijuana for psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety and depression; 40% are turning to cannabis to treat chronic pain.

Prohibition Partners, a data, media and tech company operating in the legal cannabis industry revealed earlier this year that the medical marijuana market is experiencing larger cannabis sales than expected due to  ‘unusually high’ consumption rates on a per-patient basis.

The document also noted that by the end of 2024, 62,960 patients are projected to be using medical marijuana in the United Kingdom, generating 240 million euros ($258.8 million) in sales. This means that the average medical marijuana patient will consume 3,811 euros worth of medical marijuana annually or 318 euros worth per month.

This compares to Germany, with the largest medical cannabis market and patient population in Europe, where the average medical cannabis patient will consume 1,563 euros worth of medical cannabis per year or 130 euros per month. In April, Germany made a significant breakthrough with its new cannabis law that effectively regulated medical marijuana as ibuprofen.

In 2023, another report revealed that the import of medical cannabis has tripled in volume.

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Photo: Benzinga edit of images by Marcin Nowak and Kimzy Nanney on Unsplash