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UK: 'Unprecedented' call for safe spaces for people to vape cannabis Neal Keeling Manchester Evening News Tuesday 14 Nov 2023 A councillor has called for a town hall to provide safe areas in all its buildings for medical cannabis patients to use vapes to take the drug. Andrew Walters, who sits as an Independent on Salford council, says it is time to remove "the stigma" of using the drug for a variety of conditons, which he says remains even though it was made legal five years ago. It is understood his action has triggered interest from other councils including, Bury, Liverpool, Leeds, and Stafford, where a similar motion is being considered. Cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) in oil and/or flower form have been legally available under prescription in the UK since 1st November 2018. His motion says it is estimated there are 30,000 patients prescribed CBPMs in the UK, with most receiving private prescriptions. They are issued for a wide variety of conditions which cause chronic pain, including arthritis, cancer related pain, endometriosis, and fibromyalgia. Psychiatric conditions can also be treated with them including agrophobia; eating disorders. anxiety, insomnia, and post traumatic stress disorder. Neurological conditions including migraines, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and epilepsy can also benefit form their use, plus chronic fatigue syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome. Medical cannabis is provided in two forms, an oil which is taken orally and the flowering tops of cannabis plants for vaporisation. The oil often takes longer to take effect and is often taken at specified intervals, whereas the flower provides an almost instant effect and is administered as required. This quick effect is often helpful for people suffering from neurological pain conditions or epilepsy. Like the use of asthma inhalers, often in the case of vaping cannabis the medical user will decide when it is needed. The vaporiser is a medical device that does not cause combustion and so is absent from legislation for smoking or vaping e-cigarettes indoors. Councillor Walters says in his motion, which is to considered by the city's full council tomorrow: "Requiring CBPM users to use an outdoor smoking area to consume medication may be a breach of the Equality Act, and puts their health at risk by exposing them to the dangerous carcinogenic second-hand smoke of tobacco smokers. "Due to lack of awareness, housing associations across the UK have been threatening tenants with evictions and anti-social behaviour bonds for using their prescribed medication at home and officers from police forces have been unlawfully arresting patients for possession and driving (S.5A RTA 1988) offences, despite a statutory exemption." His motion urges City Mayor, Paul Dennett to: Ensure all council premises have a safe indoor space for CBPM users in accordance with the Equality Act, and that council employees and visitors are not discriminated against. Ensure all Salford licensees are aware of CBPMs and their legal status. Provide training to relevant officers on CBPMs, how they differ from black-market cannabis and how to avoid potential discrimination under the Equality Act. Ensure that proposed bylaws to reduce smoking and nicotine-vaping near schools and public placesare drafted in a way as not to inadvertently include use of CBPMs. He also asks the Mayor to write to GMP's Chief Constable, Stephen Watson, to ask what information or training is given to police officers to ensure they are aware of the legal position, and to publish a copy of the letter and response. In addition he calls for him to write to Salford Housing Associations to confirm that they are aware of the legal position, and to request that measures are put in place to ensure that housing association tenants prescribed CBPMs are not discriminated against, and to publish a copy of the letter and any responses. Councillor Walters, who represents Kersal and Broughton ward, said: “It is an honour and privilege to move this unprecedented, potentially game-changing motion this week. And the motion has already succeeded, regardless of the result of the vote on Wednesday. Why? Because the motion is all about awareness; it is not changing any law, or doing anything different. It is not radical, liberal or political. "The Equality Act is just as relevant without the motion as it it would be if the motion is passed. If a patient walks into the council building today, and needs someone safe and secure to take medicine, the Equality Acts apply. But would a council officer know what to do? What documents to ask for? Unlikely, perhaps, which is putting the council at real risk of anti-disability discrimination. The motion is all about education; so if a patient needs to medicate, officers know what to do, and can treat the patient with dignity. “So why is the motion so important? A patient will no longer need to decide between either suffering excruciating pain, having to hide ‘behind the bike shed’ like a criminal, or risk censure for openly consuming. And that is a decision that no-one should have to make. Imagine a diabetic needing to hide to take insulin, or an asthmatic struggling to breathe because of a stigma around an inhaler! https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/unprecedented-call-safe-spaces-people-28102515?fbclid=IwAR32FMmlSoEqD4MfqTRYdI-C_kUruF1H3DyaOth7GpgqSqG6R_E3G-r0K3g
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