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A cannabis executive is calling for law enforcement agencies to be better educated on medical cannabis, after a court ruled UK border force officers wrongfully seized his prescription.
The managing director of the Canndr medical cannabis platform has spoken publicly for the first time after winning a legal battle against the UK Border Force for the wrongful seizure of his medication.
Adam Windish, who has worked for British Cannabis Group since 2023 as Chief Revenue Officer, travels to the UK regularly for business, bringing with him cannabis-based medication, which he is prescribed abroad for chronic pain.
Windish is also Managing Director of the company’s Canndr platform and patient card, which aims to help protect and identify individuals with legal cannabis prescriptions in the UK.
A matter of weeks after the platform launched in 2023, on 4 December at around 10pm, Windish was stopped by border force officers while going through customs at Heathrow Terminal 4.
Asked if he “had any drugs on him”, he showed them his medication, which consisted of dried cannabis flower, and provided them with a copy of his license and prescription documentation, signed by a specialist doctor and his GP.
He had also contacted the Drugs and Firearms Unit directly ahead of his trip, as he had done on previous occasions, to clarify the requirements and check whether he needed to declare his medication at customs, to which he was told he did not.
Home Office guidelines state that non-UK residents can bring a three-month supply of medication containing controlled substances without a license, but must provide a letter to prove that it was prescribed for them. This includes name, dates of travel, a list of medicine, doses and strength and the signature of the prescribing doctor.
Windish told Cannabis Health that the officers, whom he at times found to be “intimidating” and “dismissive”, refused to believe he was a legitimate medical cannabis patient, insisting that while it “may be legal in other countries, it’s not legal in the UK”.
He says the officers were “uninterested” in looking at the Home Office website, and were “adamant that they make the rules, not the Home Office or the Drug and Firearms Unit”. He was held at customs for several hours while he was questioned, before he was told his medication would be seized and he could continue his journey.
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Cannabis Executive Wins Legal Battle Against UK Border Force After Medication Seizure
