How Medical Cannabis Transformed a Former PSNI Officer's Life

A former PSNI officer has said that using medical cannabis has 'given him his life back' after struggling with work-related injuries and mental health issues.

PSNI Training Calls
He has also called on the PSNI to provide dedicated training or a 'school of instruction' to its officers so that they are fully aware of medical cannabis laws, saying that 'the odd email or chat in a briefing room is not good enough'. Speaking to Belfast Live, the former officer said that he was prescribed medical cannabis a few months after leaving the force in order to help him with a severe back injury that was caused by his role as a police officer.

Read more: Call for PSNI to 'learn medical cannabis legislation' as further seized prescriptions returned Read more: PSNI accused of 'not knowing medical cannabis laws' as officers return seized medication

He says that he only became aware that medical cannabis was available in Northern Ireland after 'wrongly seizing' someone's prescription in Belfast a number of years ago and that during his time on the force he never received any dedicated training surrounding it. The former officer said the PSNI should develop a 'school of instruction' for medical cannabis, which is the force's internal term for training modules, saying that it did this effectively to help officers understand new domestic abuse laws and how criminals operate with keyless car thefts.

Personal Testimony
He said: 'The first time I became aware of medical cannabis being legal in Northern Ireland was when I wrongly seized someone's prescription in Belfast. At the time I thought they were lying to me as I had no guidance on the issue and didn't find out it was legal until years later when doing my own research. '

Near the end of my time with the force I was really struggling with physical injuries which also had an impact on my mental health, but I was doing all that I could to avoid the issues and didn't want to take any medication which ultimately made the problems much worse down the line and led to me leaving the force altogether. '

Medical cannabis was not something that I would have initially considered, but due to the impact and side-effects that I was getting from painkillers and anti-depressants I had been prescribed which left me feeling like a zombie and thought I would give it a go. '

Since I have started my prescription medical cannabis has been life-changing for me. I take about a quarter of the amount of pills that I used to take. I feel like I have got my life back again and can do so much more for my children and family than before. '

But I still think there is a lot of stigma regarding the use of medical cannabis, especially from my former employer, and I feel that this is an issue that could easily be handled by the force which would help not only patients, but officers as well. '

There is also a lot of confusion among officers about what medical cannabis actually is. This is mainly where the grey area lies, a lot of officers think it's only an oil that can be prescribed whereas it's actual flower, oils, vapes or edibles. '

While I know that there may have been emails and the odd statement made at morning briefings about medical cannabis, the PSNI has never developed a school of instruction to provide officers with the correct guidance that they need. I know the force has done this with other issues such as new domestic abuse laws and the tactics used in keyless car thefts and I believe that this would at the very least give officers a better understanding of medical cannabis laws and patients. '

Medical cannabis is growing in popularity across Northern Ireland as patients see it as a more viable alternative to harmful opiates and patients shouldn't have to be worried about getting their prescriptions seized when they leave the house and I know a lot of my former colleagues don't want to be wasting their time with it either.