Chronically ill cannabis sufferers in the United Kingdom are seemingly getting fed up with the current cannabis laws, which prohibits the drug for medicinal use.

However, their voices are finally being heard. Assembly Members in Wales recently took their pleas into account in a bid to transform current UK cannabis laws, of which are making patients feel like criminals, according to Weed World Magazine.

Welsh Assembly Members showed their support for medical cannabis legalization in the UK on January 17, 2017, by voting in favor of the Legalisation of Cannabis (Medicinal Purposes) Bill 2017–19. If the bill is passed when the second reading commences on February 23, medical cannabis will be reclassified for its therapeutic benefits.

The aim of the motion is to reschedule the plant from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2. Should this happen, the drug will be acknowledged for its medical potential. So far, things are looking good, with 18 voting against the bill and 31 voting in favor of reclassifying medical cannabis in the UK.

Medical cannabis legislation in the UK is put in motion 

There are plenty of reasons why reclassifying medical cannabis in the UK could be a worthwhile decision. In countries that have already legalized the drug for medical use, such as the United States, Uruguay, Canada and Australia, there has been no link to increased road fatalities. Instead, legalizing cannabis for medicinal use has had a profound effect on economies and has been linked to a reduction in violent crime.

“We need the Welsh Government to take positive action and ask the UK Government to reschedule cannabis and in preparation for this, the NHS in Wales should develop a system whereby cannabis could be made available via a prescription to all those who could benefit,” Leanne Wood AM, a leader from Plaid Cymru, said in a statement.

Patients of all ages and with all kinds of ailments are supporting the idea of reclassifying medical cannabis in the UK.

One such sufferer is Sue Cox, pictured right, who has been battling multiple sclerosis since two years before her diagnosis in 2014.

Previously, she worked as a manager at a Holland and Barrett health store. But now, the grandmother from Cwmbran, Wales suffers from restricted movement in her legs and back.

After years of using prescribed medications and opiates, including morphine, the 65-year-old has turned to medical cannabis. The grandmother tends to sprinkle cannabis on her food to ease chronic pain caused by MS.

“Cannabis helps to relax me, which in turn relaxes my muscles and cuts down the amount of spasms I have each day,” claims Cox, who shares the same medical condition as cannabis advocate, campaigner and television producer, Elizabeth Brice, pictured left.

Brice convinced the Belgian Parliament to approve medical cannabis legislation in 2001 and she even sipped cannabis-infused tea on the Commons terrace – two of her many achievements before her early demise aged just 54 in 2011. 

Thanks to Brice’s devotion and long-term campaigning, cannabis-based medicine Sativex from GW Pharmaceuticals is now prescribed to MS patients throughout Europe and much of North America. It is the first medicine derived from the cannabis plant to be licensed and prescribed for MS-related ailments in the UK.

Current medical cannabis laws in the UK

At present, cannabis’ therapeutic value is not recognized under the law in Wales and England.

Due to strict medical cannabis laws in the UK, anyone who possesses or supplies the plant can be punished for committing an offense, with penalties ranging from hefty fines to lengthy stints behind bars. Cannabis advocates and medical cannabis patients in the UK understandably feel as though are being treated unfairly, what with the harsh laws essentially forcing them to seek out drugs from the often dangerous black market.

Things haven’t always been this way, however. Medical cannabis tinctures were used for more than 100 years in the UK until they were banned in 1973.

Recent figures revealed by the Cannabis Trades Association UK indicate how the number of people using cannabidiol (CBD) to treat their medical ailments in the UK has risen from 125,000 to 250,000 over the last 12 months. With this rapid rise in demand, the UK may soon discover that the grass could actually be greener on the other side.