Proposal could make local authority first in Wales to protect medical cannabis users

Alec Doyle, local democracy reporter

Medical cannabis users in Flintshire could be the first in Wales to get specific protections from their local authority if a new notice of motion is passed.

The notice of motion recommends that Flintshire County Council gives additional protections to social housing tenants and council staff who are legally prescribed cannabis to deal with ongoing conditions.

It would commit the council to ensure that Equality Impact Assessments include medical cannabis users and that employees of the council with prescriptions were not discriminated against.

It would also commit the authority to working with North Wales Police, council staff and pub licensees to offer training and improve understanding of the legislation around medical cannabis – which was legalised in 2018.

Flintshire would be the first local authority in Wales to introduce such a policy and follows in the footsteps of a number of English authorities including Salford City Council, which was the first in the UK to introduce this protection in 2023.

Rheumatoid arthritis 

The motion has been raised by Liberal Democrat councillor David Coggins Cogan. The member for Gwernaffield and Gwernymynydd took up the issue having spoken with Halkyn resident and former Lib Dem council candidate David Case.

Mr Case has had rheumatoid arthritis since the age of 14 and is prescribed medical cannabis. A retired lawyer, he became concerned about his own experiences after being prescribed cannabis and feared he may not be alone.

“I felt I needed to speak to Cllr Coggins Cogan as people are being treated like wrongdoers and they need help,” said Mr Case.

“It is a legal treatment. I take it and it provides one to two hours of relief from the pain but without it I would barely be able to move without pain and would require a lot more support from care services.

“But despite it being legal for seven years I still encounter issues. There are levels, for example I like to go to a local pub once a fortnight for the quiz. I cannot take my medical cannabis there as they have a zero-tolerance policy to drugs.

“But perhaps most starkly is the fact my elderly parents live in the Republic of Ireland and are in need of care. I was prevented from taking my medication with me so that I could help care for them and spend time with them and had to fight for an exemption.

“I realised then that many people do not have the means to fight and they shouldn’t have to. This is a medicine of last resort – prescribed only when everything else does not work for a patient – and it is legal. But there is a stigma and an lack of understanding we need to get through.”

Prescriptions

There are only 50,000 people in the UK with medical cannabis prescriptions. Despite being legally prescribed, users – not specifically in Flintshire – face issues including being evicted from social housing due to neighbour complaints and being arrested after being found with legally prescribed medical cannabis on their person.

Additionally a lack of understanding of the law on the part of local authorities can mean that officers are unsure how to proceed if a complaint is made around cannabis use and tenants claim to have a prescription.

One authority that has already been through this process is Salford City Council. Cllr Andrew Walters was a leading figure in the effort to introduce protections there and explained why it was important.

“There is a lot of stigma around this which has made the awareness and upholding of the legal right of patients to use medical cannabis such a difficult issue,” he said.

“We are not talking about smoking cannabis or legalising recreational cannabis – that is a completely separate issue. We are talking about protecting people who are legally allowed to use these products to treat their symptoms or their conditions.”

Vaporiser

Medical cannabis comes in two forms – a dissolvable tablet or a vaporiser. This is not a vape, but a device which gently warms dried cannabis flowers to release a barely-detectable soft-smelling vapour which when breathed in delivers the pain-relieving properties.

“There is not the same strong smell as you get with smoking cannabis,” said Cllr Walters, who is also a trustee of the CannCare patient advocacy group. “In Salford we spent a year discussing this before we finally passed it but when it passed, bearing in mind we have a lot of ‘small c’ conservative councillors, it passed unanimously.

“We had that support because we are talking about the council leading the way in changing attitudes towards a legally prescribed treatment.”

It was that argument that inspired Cllr Coggins Cogan to take up the mantle in Flintshire.

Consulted

“Unusually I have consulted with council colleagues prior to publishing this notice of motion,” he said. “One of them told me I was the one ‘swallowing the wasp’ by introducing this but I believe this is right and it’s worth it.

“The feedback I have had from fellow councillors and officers has been encouraging. Even the council’s insurers have told us that employees who use it legally would pose no issue for them.

“Some may point to the fact I am a Liberal Democrat and my party has a national policy on cannabis, but that did not enter my head when considering this and if it were not a policy, I would still take it up.

“I have also been asked why I  am doing this publicly, rather than working with officers to change the council’s policy behind closed doors. It is important to show those who are being made to feel different due to using perfectly legal treatment that we are here for them and we are protecting their rights.

“These problems and misunderstandings have arisen because too few were willing to do the same.”

The notice of motion will go before Flintshire County Council on Thursday April 3.