A new scheme is being released in the UK to allow patients taking medical cannabis to identify themselves to police who may otherwise arrest them.
In 2019, there were over 1.4 million people already using cannabis for medical conditions. With limited accessibility through expensive private healthcare providers, people in need of medicinal cannabis who cannot afford prescriptions are buying it illegally.
Medical cannabis campaigner and patient Carly Barton founded the Cancard scheme, which aims to avoid arrests for minor drug offences and facilitate community resolutions as a key to turning previously incriminating encounters with officers into positive health outcomes.