A Reddit user we’ll be calling Mr Kedoobie, turned up to Albert Hall Manchester with prescribed medical cannabis flower in original pharmacy packaging, plus ID that matched the dispensing label. He says staff still refused to let him in with his meds, told him cannabis flower couldn’t be legitimately prescribed, and made him stash his medication and grinder in a bush outside before doing a full body search.
Primary sources:
- Reddit: “Royal albert hall Manchester” (original post)
- Reddit: “UPDATE royal Albert hall” (policy shared)
- Reddit: “Final update” (resolution)
Policy Documents
- Albert Hall Manchester Medical Cannabis Policy – 9 May 2025 (Original)
- Albert Hall Manchester Medical Cannabis Policy – February 2026 (Part 1)
- Albert Hall Manchester Medical Cannabis Policy – February 2026 (Part 2)
What actually happened, in his own words
“Just a heads up guys I was turned away from the venue yesterday and had to stash my meds and grinder in a fucking bush! Venue manager came and told me there isn’t any way for flower to be legitimately prescribed and condescended me, despite having my ID matching the prescription label on the meds. Had none of it and then after stashing gave me a full body search off to the side like a criminal.”
Source: original post
“They told me only oils can be prescribed legally and anything else is ‘prescribed by a company, not a proper doctor’.”
Source: same thread
That “only oils” line keeps popping up in UK venues. It’s wrong, and it keeps producing the same result. The person with labelled medication and ID gets treated like they’re trying to sneak something in, while the building is already full of actual smoke.
“Was horrible, 3 hour bus to manny, all my mates go in, I offer my medication to them and they treat me like I’m chancing taking drugs in. Fuck sake the place was smoked out! If I wanted I’d have just skinned a couple joints and stuck em in me pants like but noooo I try and be all professional about it”
Source: comment in the original thread
How the community reacted
The replies don’t bother with politeness. They go straight to accuracy and pattern-recognition.
“Lol. They are so confidently wrong.”
Source: comment
“Straight up discrimination”
Source: comment
“This sounds exactly like an issue I had with the Hydro in Glasgow. Had my ID, Packaging and copy of my prescription but security was useless and said they were only told by the police that oil and carts were legal.”
Source: comment
“I’ll be sending an email too just to enquire and subsequently send them all the laws and legislation if they try to say the same thing, strength in numbers seems to be the best way to get these venues to realise they’re wrong and it’s illegal to treat you how you were treated”
Source: comment
In the update thread, someone asks directly for the venue’s email so they can write in.
“What was the email address? I would love to send some informational material towards their way and show them MC isnt some joke.”
Source: comment
Source (reply by Mr Kedoobie): update thread
When the policy hits daylight
After the initial mess at the door, Albert Hall Manchester sent Mr Kedoobie their written policy. He shared it in a follow-up post.
“Just a copy of their policy I have been sent, this can’t be right surely?.. Also, yep they are doubling down, this is gonna be a rough one”
Source: update post
Once it’s in writing, you’re no longer dealing with a one-off clash at the door. You’re looking at how the organisation expects staff to behave every time. That’s why the comments immediately start ripping apart specific lines, especially the “passive inhalation” language.
“Preventing people passively inhaling cannabis vapour in the SMOKING area. JFC.”
Source: comment
“Passive inhalation of a cannabis vaporiser isn’t a thing m8”
Source: comment
“What the hell? Can bring your vape but can’t bring the bloody bud?”
Source: comment
What The Reasonable Adjustment sent
After Mr Kedoobie shared the venue contact details and asked the community for support, I emailed Albert Hall Manchester twice from The Reasonable Adjustment. If you’re a patient or advocate and you’re getting similar pushback elsewhere, you can read and reuse them.
- TRSA email 1 (PDF): policy clarity, staff training, and what counts as normal evidence
- TRSA email 2 (PDF): formal notice, Equality Act Part 3 risk, and why a venue policy doesn’t outrank legislation
The main points in those emails are straightforward:
- CBPM prescriptions have been lawful in the UK since 1 November 2018.
- There’s no rule that “only oils” can be prescribed.
- Pharmacy-labelled packaging plus matching ID is standard evidence.
- A venue can control where something’s used. It can’t reclassify dispensed medicine as “illicit” because staff don’t recognise it.
If a venue claims there’s a legal requirement to bring a paper copy of the prescription, ask them to quote the legislation. They won’t find it, because it isn’t there.
How it was resolved
In his final post, Mr Kedoobie says the venue moved quickly once everything was documented and pushed.
“Not bad, incident on Saturday evening, resolution reached for Monday afternoon. Gotta commend the team for that I will say”
Source: final update
In messages to me, he explained what the resolution looked like from his side:
“The security were quite chill but erring on cautious specifically because it is flower however I am unsure if this was on instruction of the venue, as the young lady who searched my bag on the way in who I showed ID to was sound and knew the crack to ask for ID etc.
In terms of resolution I’m not thrilled and know I could pursue favour but at the end of the day, the guy was doing what his powers told him and in fairness, they revised their policy within 24 hours and offered to comp my travel to the venue and a couple free tickets which honestly I do think is the least they could do, but I have little energy to fight it. Especially with the revision their policy so fast I feel like that’s fair, I got an apology and it’s helped the community is what actually makes me feel just, not a payout.
I do think their policy is still a bit shakey but they do need their protections and I understand that, it’s a little rough on the edges but no longer discriminatory or ignorant of the law.”
(Shared with permission)
The venue offered a phone call. He declined and kept everything in writing. He accepted the travel reimbursement and gig tickets, and he’s mainly satisfied that the policy moved from “flat-out wrong” to “rough but usable” for the next disabled person through the door. That’s his call to make.
The final thread also leans into how ridiculous some of this becomes once you take the policy literally, given their amended version now explicitly permits desktop vaporisers.
“Going up to a steward with a fucking duffel bag: ‘Alright mate, need to medicate in line with the equality act, you don’t happen to have an outdoor plug socket handy, do you?’”
Source: comment
“Sound, ill bring a volcano, table on wheels, extension lead or big bloody power bank and inflate a few balloons through out the event.”
Source: comment
Related TRA posts if you want the wider CBPM picture
- UK CBPM cost calculator, public tool – a calculator that lets patients estimate ongoing prescription costs for different products and doses without digging through forum anecdotes.
- NPCC medical cannabis guidance – a breakdown of the NPCC-approved guidance for police, focusing on what counts as evidence of a lawful prescription and how officers are supposed to handle CBPM.
- CBPM privacy policy audit, UK – an audit of UK clinics and pharmacies’ privacy policies, looking at how they handle health data, tracking, and basic transparency.
- GMP, medical cannabis seized and disposed, FOI – an FOI-driven case study on Greater Manchester Police seizures and disposal of prescribed cannabis, and what the paperwork shows.
If you’re a patient dealing with a venue like this
- Bring normal evidence: original labelled packaging, matching ID, and any clinic letter you’ve got.
- If someone repeats “only oils are legal”, ask which law they’re relying on and ask them to quote it.
- Ask for the written policy. If they can’t show one, you’re dealing with improvisation.
- If they do have a policy and it’s wrong, treat it as a governance problem and respond like that. The two TRSA PDFs linked above are there to copy from.
- Keep everything in writing if you can. If they push for a call, ask them to email you instead.
If you’ve got your own experience with Albert Hall Manchester or any other venue, and you’re happy for it to be used as evidence, you can contact The Reasonable Adjustment via the usual channels.
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