Medical marijuana was legalized in 2018 in the United Kingdom and recent reports reveal its import has tripled in volume this year, however, the British bobbies seem to be oblivious. Five years on and law enforcement is still occasionally arresting licensed medical marijuana consumers.
One such example is Sal Aziz, a 24-year-old NHS administrator who was arrested for vapiing legally prescribed medical marijuana one August evening on the seafront in Plymouth, writes The Guardian.
“I explained that I have a prescription for medical cannabis and showed the officer my medication,” said Aziz. “As soon as they opened the pot, they said that my medication is not legal.”
He was pinned to the ground by an officer, handcuffed and locked in a police cell for six hours. After his released, Aziz filed a formal complaint.
A police liaison whom he emailed to explain medical marijuana flower is legal via private clinics, asked where that legislation can be found since they’d only found information about the NHS.
While it is possible to access medical marijuana through the NHS, this rarely occurs and only in extreme cases of epilepsy, chemotherapy-caused nausea or muscle stiffness associated with MS.
The Guardian reported that as many as 24 medical cannabis users responded to its call, opening up about their experience with the police regarding public medical marijuana use. The lucky ones encountered understanding police officers. The unfortunate ones had their medicine seized, were arrested and brought to court.
How is this possible?
Easily apparently, as a Sussex police officer from …