A brutally honest call to the UK medical cannabis patient community, about ego, division, and why we’re our own worst enemy.
Author: Mohammad “Ish” Wasway | PatientsCann UK
Date: 25-06-2025
This Isn’t a Movement, It’s a Mess
Let’s be brutally honest.. the UK medical cannabis patient movement isn’t a movement, not right now. It’s a patchwork of egos, silos, and short-sighted self-interests that have lost sight of who it’s supposed to serve, patients. All patients.
Instead of building a collective voice, we’ve created a fragmented scene where personal politics, identity wars, and “my version of cannabis justice” rule the day. The loudest voices claim to speak for everyone, but more often than not, they’re only protecting their corner.
There Aren’t Enough Real Advocates, And There’s a Reason
We don’t have enough strong patient advocates in the UK. Not because people don’t care. Not because patients don’t exist. But because the people with the most serious conditions, the ones who truly need medical cannabis and understand the system’s failures firsthand, are often too unwell to fight. They’re surviving, not campaigning.
Meanwhile, those with more drive or capacity, who could be stepping up, often don’t. There are those that sit in the background, complain from the comment section, or throw shade from behind anonymous profiles. When given a platform or a chance to lead, they flake, fold, or fumble it, then blame everyone else for the movement’s failures.
The ‘Who Are You With?’ Mentality
Suspicion runs deep in this space, and it’s not just directed at new advocates.
Some of the harshest scrutiny is aimed at those who’ve been around for a while, people who’ve run campaigns, worked with industry, maybe received some sponsorship to run campaigns. Instead of asking how impactful is this for all patients or medical cannabis, the conversation turns into conspiracies about who’s “bought”, who’s “sold out”, and how has this directly impacted “my experience with cannabis personally“.
Every project is assumed to have an ulterior motive. Every success is picked apart until it looks suspicious. New advocates get put under the spotlight too, but it’s not the same. With them, it’s more passive, a quiet suspicion, a subtle cold shoulder, which tends to make you feel unwelcome or like you don’t belong. For the veterans, it’s sometimes an outright character assassination, based on nothing but a mismatch in values or style.
I’ve experienced it myself. I’ve been harassed for not doing enough, or being told what I’m doing is going to “make medical cannabis illegal again” for upholding patient rights. I’ve been criticised for associating with people or companies others disapprove of, even when they have no idea what that relationship is, or what circumstances we’re dealing with. People assume an ulterior motive or that I’m profiting from this work, that I’ve got funding or sponsorships rolling in, while in truth, I can barely afford my own prescription most months and I was battling homelessness until I received social housing just last year.
I’ve never been confronted with constructive criticism, nor have I been advised on ways to do things differently. However, I’ve been told to my face that PCUK isn’t conducting itself professionally, which is why certain organisations refuse to work with us. Rather than improving on an already well established and recognised organisation, ego kicks in, and everyone wants to do their own thing, their own way.
The Real Poison? “If It Doesn’t Help Me, It’s No Good”
Here’s the problem… too many people in this space only support campaigns, advocates, or policies if they personally benefit from them. If something doesn’t match their view of how medical cannabis should work in the UK, it’s instantly dismissed, criticised, or sabotaged.
It’s the “my weed journey or nothing” attitude. And it’s killing any chance we have at building a unified front.
We should be supporting every legitimate effort to improve access, even if it doesn’t centre you. You might want freedom to consume in public and private, someone else is pushing for safer consumption. You might want home cultivation, another is focusing on clinic-based. Why are these lanes being treated like opposing sides in a war?
This Isn’t Collective Power, It’s Collective Self-Sabotage
When everything becomes a turf war, when every patient campaign is judged by how well it fits your needs, and when advocates are treated like threats instead of allies, the system wins.
The government doesn’t have to discredit us. The industry doesn’t have to divide us. We’re doing that all on our own.
Acknowledging Those Who Are Showing Up
Despite the toxicity, there are true patient champions in the UK who consistently step into the fire. People like Guy Coxall, founder of Seed Our Future, who has personally supported dozens of patients facing criminal charges for using legally prescribed cannabis and continues this amazing work, at great personal cost. Dr Callie Seaman, a scientist, epilepsy patient, and advocate, works tirelessly to educate medical professionals and patients, spearheading research, events, and policy discussions across the UK.
These individuals aren’t perfect, none of us are, but they are present, consistent, and grounded in patient experience. They take the flak, open dialogue, and act, even when it costs them personally. And that sets a standard we should be lifting up not tearing apart.
Last Call To Action
We don’t need another brand, another patient group, another TikToker/YouTuber, or another self-declared expert. We need a community that actually shows up, not just when it’s convenient, not just when it’s profitable, but when it’s hard, uncomfortable, and uncertain.
Here’s what we need to do now!
> Support work that isn’t about you
> Stop dragging down advocates who are trying
> Share, support, don’t insult
> Back disabled patients who can’t advocate by advocating for them
> Respect different strategies without demanding ideological purity
> Let go of the idea that there’s only one path forward
> Come together as one group or one organisation
Because this isn’t about one person, one group, or one idea of what medical cannabis should be. It’s about survival, dignity, and justice for all of us.
Until we act like it, this isn’t a movement. It’s a mess. And we should be ashamed to leave it that way.
Published by Mohammad Wasway | PatientsCann UK