Medical cannabis in the UK: a patient knowledge base

61 guides answering the questions UK patients most often ask about medical cannabis — eight covering the law, eligibility and process, 27 covering the individual conditions specialists consider, 5 on access and regulation, 14 on how the medicines themselves work and 7 on living with a prescription — plus a 73-term glossary. Written in plain English, sourced from public regulatory and clinical material, and honest about what the evidence does and does not show.

Getting started

These eight guides answer one question each, covering the law, who is eligible, and how the process works. Start anywhere — they cross-link where they overlap. Condition-by-condition guides are further down the page.

Condition guides

One guide for each condition UK specialists consider privately. Each sets out what a specialist assesses, what the published research found — with a link to the study itself — and the risks that weigh against treatment.

Being listed here is not a qualification and not a promise. The conditions differ enormously in how well they are evidenced, and each guide says where its own condition stands. The overview is in What conditions can be treated with medical cannabis in the UK?

Pain conditions

Neurological conditions

Mental health conditions

Gastrointestinal and other conditions

Access, regulation and who can prescribe

What is available on the NHS, why there is no UK cannabis card, how to check a specialist on the GMC register, and what unlicensed and Schedule 2 actually mean. The answers here are grounded in the legislation and the regulators.

How treatment works

The pharmacology, the practical mechanics and the safety questions — what the medicines are, how they are taken, how a dose is arrived at, and what happens when treatment stops. These pages name no product, because UK law does not permit it.

Living with a prescription

Driving, travel, police, work, insurance, donating blood and telling your GP. These are the questions that come up once treatment has started, and the answers are grounded in the legislation rather than in clinic copy.

Glossary

73 terms defined in plain English — the plant, the pharmacology, the law and the clinical process. Where a term is contested, the entry says so rather than presenting a hypothesis as settled.

How these pages are written

These are information pages, not advertising. They are written to help you understand your options and have a better conversation with a clinician — including where that conversation ends in "no".

• Sourced. Every factual claim is drawn from public regulatory, legislative or clinical sources, listed at the foot of each page with links.
• Balanced. Where NICE or the NHS has concluded that the evidence does not support a treatment, we say so, including where that is inconvenient for us.
• No product promotion. We do not name, picture, rank or price any medicine, product, brand, strain or cannabinoid content. UK law does not permit it, and it is not what these pages are for.
• No guarantees. Nothing here predicts what will happen for you. Only a specialist who has assessed you can do that.
• Dated. Each page carries the date it was last reviewed. Law and guidance change.

If you spot something out of date or wrong, tell us at hello@florahaus.co.uk and we will check it.

This is not medical advice

General information cannot account for your diagnosis, your other conditions, or the medicines you already take. It is not a substitute for an assessment.

If you are unwell or worried about your symptoms, contact your GP or call NHS 111. In an emergency, call 999. If you are struggling with cannabis or other drug use, Talk to FRANK offers free, confidential information, and your GP can refer you to local support.

Patient guide · Written by the Flora House editorial team · Last reviewed: 8 September 2026