*This episode contains explicit material from the start*
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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As you'll hear from this extra long episode, Richard Lanigan has an incredible story.
After a starting out as a successful football and fitness coach, Richard trained as a chiropractor and set up his own practice in London and Dublin, even being elected to the General Chiropractic Council.
But in 2011, he was given the devastating diagnosis of rectal cancer. After being given the all clear, in 2013 Richard stunned everyone when he defied the odds to complete a marathon on the Great Wall of China. Months later he found out his cancer had returned and this time he was given just 22 months to live. Since 2014, Richard has been taking cannabis oil and seven years later, is still going strong.
Here, he reflects on his life so far, including how he dealt with his cancer diagnosis and his first experiences with cannabis.
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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