Cannabis in the United Kingdom

The Mary Rose needed tons of hemp.

The oldest evidence of cannabis in Britain was from some seeds found in a well in York;[2] seeds found at Micklegate were associated with a 10th-century Viking settlement.[3] Since it appears to have been mostly grown around the coastal areas it suggests the main reason for cultivating it was as a source of vegetable fibre which was stronger and more durable than stinging nettle or flax. This makes it ideal for making into cordage, ropes, fishing nets, and canvas.[4][5]

With hempen ropes being fundamental to the success of the English Navy, King Henry VIII in 1533 mandated that landowners grow allotments of hemp; Elizabeth I later increased those quotas, and the penalties for failing to meet them.[6] As fibre became more available and the growing of hemp became more widespread, people began to find many other uses for the crop. It became a very important part of the British economy. Eventually, demand had expanded to the point that the demand for more fibre was part of the driving force to colonise new lands. Thanks to its hardiness and ease of cultivation, it became an ideal crop to grow in the new British colonies. Moreover, the naval ships built to protect the new colonies and those built to bring the hemp back, also increased demand, as every two years or so much of their two hundred tonnes of ropes and sail cloth had to be renewed.[6]

Cannabis gained new attention in the Western medical world at the introduction of Irish physician William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, who had studied the drug while working as a medical officer in Bengal with the East India Company, and brought a quantity of cannabis with him on his return to Britain in 1842.[7]

Use of psychoactive cannabis was already prevalent in some of the new territories that Britain added to its empire, including South Asia and Southern Africa. Cannabis as a drug also spread slowly in other parts of the Empire; cannabis was introduced to Jamaica in the 1850s–1860s by indentured servants imported from India during British rule of both nations; many of the terms used in cannabis culture in Jamaica are based on Indian terms, including the term ganja.[8][9][10]

Cannabis prohibition began earlier in Britain's colonies than in Britain itself; attempts at criminalising cannabis in British India were made, and mooted, in 1838, 1871, and 1877.[11] In 1894 the British Indian Hemp Drugs Commission judged that "little injury" was caused to society by the use of cannabis. Cannabis was banned in Mauritius in 1840,[12] Singapore in 1870,[13] Jamaica in 1913,[14] East Africa Protectorate in 1914,[15] and in Sierra Leone in 1920.[16] In 1922, South Africa banned cannabis, and appealed to the League of Nations to include cannabis among prohibited drugs in its upcoming convention.[17][18]

In Britain itself, in 1928 in accordance with the 1925 International Opium Convention, the United Kingdom first prohibited cannabis as a drug, adding cannabis as an addendum to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1920.[19][20]

Cannabis remained a fringe issue in the British public consciousness through the Interwar years and beyond, associated with society's margins: "coloured seamen of the East End and clubs frequented by Negro theatrical performers".[21] This perception was strained by a 1950 police raid on Club Eleven in Soho which recovered cannabis and cocaine, and led to the arrest of several young white British men.[22][21] With the changing youth and drug cultures globally, cannabis arrests increased dramatically in the UK: "from 235 in 1960 to 4,683 by the end of the decade, principally involving white middle class youths with no previous convictions".[23] By 1973, cannabis possession convictions in the UK had reached 11,111 annually.[24]

With the passage of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, cannabis was listed as a Class B drug. It remained Class B, except for the 2004–2009 period where it was classified as Class C, a lower punishment category, before being moved back to B.[25][26][27]

Cannabis is widely used throughout the United Kingdom, by people of all ages and from all socio-economic backgrounds.[30][31] In 2017, 7.2% of 16 to 59-year-olds reported using cannabis in the last year, making it the most commonly used illegal drug in the United Kingdom.[32] The European drug report 2017 found that 29.4% of those aged 15–64 had used cannabis at least once.[33] This compares with France which has some of the strongest drug laws in Europe with 40.9% and Portugal which views drug taking as a medical issue and therefore has far more relaxed laws at 9.4%

Cannabis is at times linked to young people beginning to smoke tobacco as cannabis is often smoked with tobacco in the United Kingdom, unlike in many other parts of the world. As well as the use of tobacco when smoking cannabis, as a spliff, many people in Britain use a "roach card" (card or similar material rolled into a cylinder to serve as a rudimentary filter / structural support). As the option of vaporisation becomes more readily available, and as the market for hashish is replaced by herbal cannabis grown in the UK which can be smoked pure in a joint, this association of mixing cannabis with tobacco is becoming weaker. The higher relative price of cannabis compared to the rest of the world remains the most likely explanation for the mixing of cannabis with tobacco (although many users do this purely to ensure the "joint" smokes correctly, and to prevent it from going out).

In February 2015, a team of researchers at the Institute Of Psychiatry, King's College London, led by Dr. Marta Di Forti, found that use of high potency cannabis known as skunk increased the risk of psychosis by three times, compared to non-use. The study of 780 people also found the risk of psychosis was five times higher for those who used cannabis every day.[34]

Since 1993, the Home Office has been granting licences for the purposes of cultivating and processing cannabis. The UK government now provides free business advice and support services for growers and processors of cannabis for fibre. They can also issue licences for importing fibre in the form of hemp from abroad.[35] The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) provides help and advice with obtaining financial assistance via the Single Payment Scheme. In England further funding may be available from Rural Development Programme for England.

Mice, rats and fowl are all known to like cannabis seed, and it is a favoured food amongst some British pigeon fanciers. The linnet's fondness of the cannabis seed has earned it the Latin species name of cannabina. Cannabis seed is too expensive to be used as general feed stock, but once the oil has been pressed out the remaining seed cake is still nutritious.

The plant itself has not been used as fodder as too much makes animals sicken, and due to its unpleasant taste they will not eat it unless there is no other food available. Hemp hurd, also called shives, is the soft core of the cannabis plant which remains after the fibres are removed, and provides good animal bedding which can absorb more moisture than either straw or wood shavings.[36]

Boiled cannabis seed is frequently used by British sport fishermen.[37]

Cannabis is illegal to possess, grow, distribute or sell in the UK.[38] It is a Class B drug, with penalties for unlicenced dealing, unlicenced production and unlicenced trafficking of up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both.[38] The maximum penalty for possession of cannabis is five years in prison and an unlimited fine.[38] A "Cannabis warning" can be issued for small amounts of cannabis if it is found to be for personal use. This entails the police keeping a record, albeit one which carries no fine and does not show up on standard DBS Check.[39]

Cannabis has remained a Class B drug since the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, except for a period from 2004 to 2009 during which it was classified as Class C, a lower punishment category.[40] The 2004 reclassification (originally announced in 2001) removed the threat of arrest for possession of small amounts, for the purpose of allowing police to focus on harder drugs and violent crime.[41][42] In May 2008, under the leadership of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, it was announced that cannabis would be moved back to Schedule B,[43] against the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.[44]

In the survey-year ending March 2014, possession of cannabis offences accounted for 67% of all police recorded drug offences in the UK.[45]

In 2015, County Durham police announced that they will no longer be targeting people who grow cannabis for personal consumption unless they are being "blatant". Derbyshire, Dorset and Surrey police announced that they will also be implementing similar schemes. The move is in response to significant budget cuts, which means police forces are having to prioritise more pressing areas.[46]

According to figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request, there are large differences by county regarding how many cases actually result in an offender being charged. In 2016, Hampshire police had the most charges at 65%, while Cambridge had the lowest proportion of charges at only 14%.[47]

Medical use of cannabis was legalised in the UK on 1 November 2018,[48] after the cases of two epileptic children who benefited from using cannabis brought increased public attention to the issue. The children (Billy Caldwell, 12, and Alfie Dingley, 6) both experienced significant improvement in their conditions after they began using cannabis, but were initially not allowed to continue their treatment under UK law.[49][50] This led to increased public outcry, particularly in the case of Billy Caldwell who was hospitalised with life-threatening seizures after his medication was confiscated by authorities.[49][51]

On 20 June 2018, then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced his support for the medical use of cannabis and that a review would be undertaken to study changes to the law.[52] On 26 July 2018, Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced that cannabis products would be made legal for patients with an "exceptional clinical need", and that cannabis would be moved from a Schedule I classification to Schedule II.[53][54] On 11 October, the new provisions were officially presented and accepted in the House and the policy came into effect on 1 November 2018.[55][56][57]

A licence is available from the home office to import prescribed medicinal cannabis.[58] The first private, stand-alone CQC registered cannabis clinic was opened by Sapphire medical in December 2019,[59] since then a number of private clinics have opened across the UK. The UK's first medical cannabis registry set up and run by Drug Science charity was launched in August 2020. It is the biggest observational medical cannabis study in the UK with over 3,500 patients.[60] The first UK MHRA approved medical cannabis study was approved by REC (the MHRA ethics committee) in November 2021 with the study title of "CANPAIN feasibility study: evaluating the feasibility of undertaking a pragmatic real world trial investigating CBMP in chronic pain patients"[61] with IRAS project ID 304548 of which will be provided by LVL Health[62] in the UK. It is now possible to obtain a private prescription for medical cannabis, providing a patient can show through medical records they have a qualifying condition.

Treatment must be initiated by a specialist consultant and may be continued under a shared care agreement by a GP or non-medical prescriber.[63] NHS guidance states that medical cannabis should only be prescribed when there is clear published evidence of its benefit and other treatment options have been exhausted.[57]

Sativex is an approved cannabis-derived medicine and is indicated for the treatment of spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis.[64] Nabilone is another cannabinoid drug that has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to treat nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy.[65] Nabilone is a synthetic form of THC and not naturally derived from the plant.

Cannabidiol (CBD) oil is legal for use and sale in the UK without a prescription, as long as when it is sold to the public it is not sold as medicine. The CBD drug Epidiolex is approved for use in the EU [66] and can be prescribed on the NHS for children and adults with rare forms of epilepsy such as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC).[67][68]

On 31 October 2020, it was reported that the NHS has been repeatedly refusing to fund medical cannabis for children with severe epilepsy. It was reported that at least twenty families are paying for private prescriptions after not being provided by the NHS. One family reported paying £2,000 a month for their 11-year-old daughter, who had been having up to 300 seizures a day. Doctors put her into an induced coma and transported her to intensive care. After an anonymous donation was given to one of the child's parents of £2,500, the parent bought cannabis oil for their child, who after taking it was allowed home within two days. The Department of Health and Social Care said more research is needed before it can routinely prescribe cannabis-based medicines. Peter Carroll of the campaign group End Our Pain said there are dozens more families in a similar position or unable to pay for the drugs at all.[69]

Medical use of cannabis was legalised following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Bermuda in 2016.[70][71]

In 2016, the governor of the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands approved a change to the Misuse of Drugs Law to allow the importation and use of CBD oil for medical purposes.[72]