I have discussed medicinal cannabis and I have discussed mental health. I have spoken about the stigma around both, but not the stigma around mental health patients compared to all other patients when medicinal cannabis specifically, is involved.
Being a patient has its own difficulties, and I’m not stating anyone has it ‘easier’ than anyone else at all, but I have noticed people generally only seem to validate medicinal cannabis where pain or neurological conditions are considered. There’s already this stigma that depressed people just ‘sit around’ all day, a similar misconception that people have around cannabis consumers, so you join the two and have an incredible fuel for the uneducated.
Working in the industry, I would estimate mental health patients to be around 40-50% of the patients we had at the time and although figures are widely unreported, knowing that with only the UK taken into account, one in four of us will face a mental health illness per year and that the NHS prescribed anti-depressants for almost 7 million people last year alone, that there are millions of mental health patients that could benefit from medicinal cannabis. (The eligibility criteria usually requires 2 medications or one medication and one form of completed therapy) With less than 50.000 UK medicinal cannabis patients as a whole, and my estimate of 40-50% being mental health patients that leaves us with approximately 20-25.000 people. 25.000 people who are members of the society that you wouldn’t be able to apply a single stereotype to. People that I have had crying down the phone to me, pouring their hearts out, when you listen to them, really listen to them, you understand how vital and life changing this medication is. Even as a non-patient, I believe you would have to be soulless not to feel a connection to each patient and their journey.
The medication is exactly that – medication! My cannabis made me more active both physically and mentally, it got me dancing, it got me laughing at things I never could, it got me enjoying life again, it got me stable. I no longer felt like I was in a blackout balloon, able to move to a certain extent but always restricted by the darkness surrounding me. I no longer felt unable, I felt empowered and strong. My medication meant the world to me.
There are patients who are unaware of their eligibility and the wonders that medicinal cannabis could create for them, that will be stigmatising themselves and their community without realising, but as they say in Turkey, ”not knowing is not rude, not learning is.”
So, let’s debunk the myths, do some research 😊and overall remember that patients are patients. Let’s challenge outdated perceptions, ensuring all patients, regardless of their diagnosis, are treated with compassion and care. We deserve our medication. We deserve the freedom to speak about our treatments without dismissive mimics or disapproving gestures. Most importantly, we deserve to be—unapologetic in demanding a world that prioritises healing and acceptance over stigma.
“No patient should be treated as anything less than a human being, deserving of equal care, respect, and the opportunity for healing.” — Anonymous
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