By Kieron JH, Founder, The Reasonable Adjustment
A recent report from Newcastle Crown Court quoted Recorder Carl Gumsley as telling a defendant: “Let me make it clear, cannabis is illegal, you are not allowed to take it, full-stop. You have mental health problems, well, it is an established fact cannabis causes mental health problems.” You can read the ChronicleLive piece here: Judge blasts police who took years to charge dealer .
This article is not a defence of drug dealing. It is about accuracy. When a judge talks in absolutes about cannabis and mental health, in a country where medical cannabis is legal in some circumstances, it affects real patients who are trying to follow the rules.
1) “Cannabis is illegal” is not what UK law actually says
Cannabis is a controlled drug. That does not mean nobody is allowed to have it. Since November 2018, certain cannabis based products for medicinal use in humans (CBPMs) have been placed in Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations. That created a narrow but real legal route for prescription.
In simple terms:
- Specialist doctors can prescribe licensed and unlicensed CBPMs in defined circumstances.
- Patients with a valid prescription are not committing a criminal offence by possessing and taking that medication.
- The NHS and the Home Office both recognise this position in their own guidance.
So when a judge states that “cannabis is illegal, you are not allowed to take it, full-stop”, that is not a careful description of the law. It ignores the existence of lawful prescriptions and feeds the idea that any use of cannabis, even prescribed, is inherently criminal.
That misunderstanding shows up everywhere. It appears in workplace drug testing disputes, in police encounters, in the way some pharmacies or employers treat people who disclose that they are on a cannabis based medicine. A blunt statement from the bench does not stay in the courtroom. It travels.
2) Mental health and cannabis is not a simple “established fact” either
The Recorder was also reported as saying that it is an “established fact” that cannabis causes mental health problems. Again, the reality is more complicated.
There is evidence that:
- Regular use, especially of high strength products, can increase the risk of psychosis in some people.
- Cannabis can worsen anxiety or low mood for some users, particularly at higher doses or with heavy use.
- Young people and people with a personal or family history of serious mental illness are at higher risk.
That is not the same as a simple blanket statement that cannabis “causes mental health problems” in every case. It is a risk picture. It depends on dose, frequency, age, vulnerability, existing conditions and many other factors. Even NICE recognises how limited and mixed the evidence base is in its guideline on cannabis based medicinal products.
When a judge turns that into one neat “established fact”, it stops being education and starts to look like personal belief dressed up as certainty.
3) The stigma problem when you link “mental health problems” to a blunt slogan
The framing in court is important. The quote reads: “You have mental health problems” followed by a sweeping claim that cannabis causes mental health problems. The risk is obvious. It can be heard as:
- your mental health issues are your own fault for using cannabis, and
- anyone with “mental health problems” who uses cannabis is making themselves worse.
That might fit a tidy narrative, but it is not how real life works. People with anxiety, PTSD, depression, chronic pain and other conditions are already treated with suspicion enough. Turning them into a punchline in open court does not encourage anyone to be open about their health or their medication.
It also ignores an awkward fact for the system. Some patients with mental health diagnoses are legally prescribed cannabis. That might be for trauma related nightmares, for severe anxiety that has not responded to first line options, or alongside other conditions like chronic pain or inflammatory disease.
4) Where patients can read actual guidance, not courtroom soundbites
If you want to understand the legal position and the current medical caution, you are better off reading the official material than relying on a quote in a crime story. For example:
- Home Office Circular 018/2018 on rescheduling cannabis based products for medicinal use: GOV.UK circular
- NHS England overview of CBPMs for prescribers: NHS England CBPM page
- NHS public facing “Medical cannabis” page: NHS medical cannabis
- NICE guideline NG144 on cannabis based medicinal products: NICE NG144
Private clinics and pharmacies discussing mental health pathways
Private providers also publish information about how they approach conditions that overlap with mental health. These links are for context, not endorsement:
- Curaleaf Clinic – psychiatric conditions: curaleafclinic.com/condition-type/psychiatric-conditions
- Curaleaf Clinic – anxiety: curaleafclinic.com/conditions/anxiety
- Curaleaf Clinic – PTSD insights from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry: UK Medical Cannabis Registry PTSD article
- Curaleaf Pharmacy: curaleafpharmacy.co.uk
- Mamedica – mental health and mood disorders: mamedica.co.uk/conditions/mental-health-mood-disorders
- Lyphe – medical cannabis for anxiety: lyphe.com/medical-cannabis-for-anxiety-in-the-uk
None of these pages prove that cannabis is a miracle cure. What they do show is that the real world is more complicated than “illegal” and “causes mental health problems”.
5) The Reasonable Adjustment resources for patients
On The Reasonable Adjustment, we try to put practical tools and clear explanations in one place, so people are not left guessing.
- Article: CBPM cost and tolerance break calculator ( CBPM cost and tolerance break calculator )
- Tool: CBPM cost and dosage prototype ( trsa.org.uk/cbpm-prototype )
- Strain Spotlight: MUZO Lemon Mac ( Muzo Lemon Mac Strain Spotlight )
- Strain Spotlight: Curaleaf Lavender Cake ( Curaleaf Lavender Cake Strain Spotlight )
- Strain review: FIND Zookies T23 ( Zookies review – FIND Zkittlez T23 )
Bottom line
The criminal justice system is right to be angry when police take four years to charge a dealer. That is a problem. But it is also a problem when a judge speaks in sweeping terms about cannabis and mental health that do not match the law or the evidence.
Patients who are doing everything properly already have to fight to be taken seriously. The least they should be able to expect is that the people in wigs keep their facts straight.
Disclaimer: This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice or medical advice. Always seek advice from a qualified professional about your own situation.
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