*This episode contains some strong language from the beginning*
Welcome back to the second season of the Cannabis Health podcast - What's Your Why?
Medical cannabis experts and advocates, Hannah Deacon and Professor Mike Barnes, sit down with some of those at the forefront of cannabis to find out why it matters to them
Join Hannah and Mike as they discover how cannabis has changed their guest’s lives, what makes them tick, why they do what they do and what they think needs to improve for patients.
Forget graphs and commercial outlooks and expect open, honest conversations with those at the heart of the issue.
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Carly Barton is one of the most prominent medical cannabis activists in the UK. She was the first person in the UK to receive a prescription privately since the law change in 2018 and has since worked tirelessly with government organisations in order to progress NHS prescriptions.
A former lecturer in the Arts, she has exhibited work at the Tate and the Saatchi gallery. After having to give up her role due to health problems, she discovered medical cannabis was not only an appropriate, but more effective substitute for opioids to treat her fibromyalgia and post-stroke neuropathy.
In 2020 she launched Cancard, a collaborate project that has seen her connect high level police forces, doctors, patients and MPs on a scheme that reduces the fear 1.1 million cannabis consumers have around interference from the police.
Carly talks to Mike and Hannah about the impact of having a life-changing health scare in her early 20s, overcoming her own stigma about cannabis and why she's determined to improve things for other patients in the UK.
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Hannah helped change the law in 2018 after her successful campaign to enable her epileptic son Alfie Dingley to be legally prescribed cannabis medicines. She continues to help other families access medical cannabis in the UK. Hannah is also a director of the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society and Maple Tree Consultants.
Mike obtained the first medical cannabis license in the UK for Alfie. He has been involved in the efforts to assist many others and is founder of the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society along with Maple Tree Consultants.
Edited by Sarah Sinclair
Artwork by Sophie Dinsdale