The BMJ has uncovered links between companies, campaign groups, and individuals lobbying for wider patient access to cannabis for medical use and a parallel campaign to create a lucrative recreational market for the drug in the UK, Jonathan Gornall reports When Charlotte Caldwell arrived at Heathrow on 11 June 2018 with a six month supply of cannabis medication to treat her son Billy’s epilepsy, it was no coincidence that journalists and TV crews were on hand for the press conference that followed the inevitable seizure of the drug by customs officers.1 The stunt, along with the press conference and the subsequent outpouring of media outrage that her son had been denied treatment, had been orchestrated by Steve Moore, the former chief executive of David Cameron’s failed Big Society initiative.23 Caldwell revealed Moore’s role in an article published under her name on the website Vice in July 2018. “A friend,” she wrote, had put her in touch with him. He in turn had put her in touch with Tilray, a Canadian medical cannabis company, and had then fought her corner, organising press coverage and negotiating on her behalf with the Home Office.4 Moore confirmed his involvement, telling The BMJ: “I was very involved in the case of Billy Caldwell.” But Moore’s interest in cannabis is not limited to the drug’s medicinal use. His involvement in the Caldwell case is indicative of the increasingly blurred lines between groups and individuals campaigning for wider access to cannabis for medical reasons and those pushing for the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use ...
Language: en
", language="en", issn="0959-535X", doi="10.1136/bmj.m1002", url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1002" }