The UK’s medical cannabis industry is now the second largest in Europe, second only to Germany, thanks to consistent and sustained growth over the last seven years.
While this has seen thousands of new patients gain access to medical cannabis, it still represents just a fraction of the addressable market in the UK.
According to Prohibition Partners, the UK’s current patient count (estimated at between 50k -60k) represents less than 10% of the total medical market, compared to Germany’s 65.4%.
This chasm between active patients and those who could potentially benefit from medical cannabis treatment is in large part due to glaring gaps in education among medical professionals, hindering both medical cannabis acceptance and prescription numbers since it was legalised in 2018.
Now, the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society (MCCS) and Curaleaf Laboratories have formed a new partnership aimed at addressing this critical knowledge gap.
Education gap
Jonathan Hodgson, UK Managing Director of Curaleaf International, believes the company’s longstanding involvement and proven expertise in unlicensed medicines provide the perfect foundation for clinician training.
“A lot of the staff who have been involved since the original specials and unlicensed medicines route are still here, which gives us an advantage from a quality and a regulatory perspective,’ he said.
“We’ve helped patients and clinicians alike address unmet clinical needs through unlicensed medicines for a long time. While the adoption of medical cannabis is only in its infancy, we want to help widen access to this option.”
Curaleaf’s strategy has placed clinician engagement at its core, reflecting the central role doctors play in ensuring appropriate use.
“Providing education has always been hugely important to us,’ Hodgson continued.
“In order for us as a medical community to adequately support patients, it is important that healthcare professionals are able to access much-needed education on cannabis-based medicines so they can help their patients through guiding access or prescribing directly.”
