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Medical Cannabis Awareness Week 2026: a week that belongs to everyone | PatientsCann UK®

At a glance

When
1 to 7 November
The first week of November, every year.
Why then
1 November 2018
The day medical cannabis became legal to prescribe in the UK.
Who owns it
No one
It is community owned and community run. Everyone is welcome.
Join in
#MCAW2026
Share your story, host an event, or simply talk about it.

Where it began

What is Medical Cannabis Awareness Week?

Medical Cannabis Awareness Week, often shortened to MCAW, is a yearly week of events, stories and conversations about cannabis as a medicine. It starts on 1 November. That date matters. On 1 November 2018, medical cannabis became legal to prescribe in the UK.2

The week was first started in 2020 by PLEA (Patient-Led Engagement for Access), a patient advocacy group.1,4 Patients shared their stories, doctors and advocates joined online panels, and people across the UK were asked to talk about medical cannabis with friends and family.1

In 2023, the week marked five years since medical cannabis became legal to prescribe, and ran from 1 to 7 November as it does every year.4 By then, PLEA had closed. The week could have faded away. Instead, the community picked it up and carried it on. Patients, volunteers and small groups kept the week alive, and PatientsCann UK® stepped in to help it grow.

Community owned

A week that belongs to everyone

No person, company or group owns Medical Cannabis Awareness Week. It belongs to every patient who has ever had to explain their medicine.
PatientsCann UK®

MCAW has always been bigger than any one organisation. It grew because patients wanted it and because people gave their time for free. When the group that started it closed, the week did not close with it. That tells you who it really belongs to.

Nobody needs permission to take part. You do not need to sign up to anyone, pay a fee or use a set logo. A patient talking to their GP, a family sharing a story online, a clinic holding an open day, a local group meeting in a cafe: all of these are Medical Cannabis Awareness Week.

We think it should stay that way. PatientsCann UK® takes part every year, and we will keep doing so, but the week is not ours. It is yours.

What MCAW is

  • Community owned and community run.
  • Free for anyone to join, share and take part in.
  • Led by patients, their carers and their families.
  • A shared moment, every 1 to 7 November.

What MCAW is not

  • Not owned by any person, company or organisation.
  • Not something anyone needs permission to take part in.
  • Not a brand or a product to sell.
  • Not closed to anyone who wants to help.

Keeping it focused

Why a week works better than a month

Last year, some in the industry suggested a Medical Cannabis Awareness Month. It did not get off the ground, and we did not support it. A longer campaign sounds bigger, but it would take away the impact of the week.

  • One loud moment. When everyone speaks up in the same seven days, the message is heard. Spread across a month, the same voices get lost.
  • It fits patients. Many patients live with pain, fatigue or long-term illness. A week is something people can manage. A month is a lot to ask.
  • It keeps the anniversary at the centre. The week starts on 1 November, the day medical cannabis became legal to prescribe. That link is part of what makes it meaningful.
  • It stays about patients. A short, focused week keeps the attention on real people and real stories.

What we have done

On the road every November since 2023

PatientsCann UK® first took Medical Cannabis Awareness Week on the road in 2023, with a trial tour of Brighton, Hove and Exeter. Since 2024, we have followed a set route from Northern Ireland to London. We travel the whole of the UK, so that patients in every nation have a chance to meet us, ask questions and feel less alone. In 2024, the tour took patient advocates to Belfast, Glasgow, Birmingham, Cardiff and London.3,5 Where we can, we also join other events along the way.

Northern Ireland
We start the week in Northern Ireland.
Scotland
Then across the water to Scotland.
The middle of England
Down to the heart of England.
Wales
Out west to Wales.
London
And we finish the week in London.

2023

Our first year looked different. In 2023, we took Medical Cannabis Awareness Week to the south of England, with stops in Brighton and Hove and in Exeter.

2024: our nationwide roadshow

Each stop ran from 10am to 3pm in a city centre, with volunteers talking to the public about the legal use of medical cannabis.5

  • Friday 1 November: Belfast, Corn Market
  • Sunday 3 November: Birmingham, Centenary Square
  • Tuesday 5 November: Glasgow, Hampden Park, as part of RISE4Disability
  • Wednesday 6 November: Cardiff, Central Square
  • Thursday 7 November: London, Windrush Square

We also held evening socials for patients at medical cannabis lounges in Ballyclare, Lanark and Newport.5

2025

In 2025 we were back on the road, with public pop-ups and patient socials.

  • Saturday 1 November: Belfast, Northern Ireland
  • Sunday 2 November: Cardiff, Wales
  • Monday 3 November: Torquay, England
  • Thursday 6 November: Shoreditch, London
  • Friday 7 November: We, The Patients, at The Charterhouse, London, in partnership with PatientsCann UK®7
We're taking the conversation out of the echo chambers and right to the people, where it matters most.
Mohammad "Ish" Wasway, Founder, PatientsCann UK®, 20245

MCAW 2026

This year, we are driving out cannabis stigma

For 2026, we are bringing our motorsport team along for the ride. The team is run by patients, and it was set up to show that medical cannabis patients belong everywhere, including on the race track. This November, we will use it to spread awareness and help Drive Out Cannabis Stigma.

Our route and locations are still being planned. We will share them here and on our social channels as soon as they are confirmed. If you would like us to visit your area, or you are planning something of your own, tell us using the form below.

Route to be confirmed. Follow #MCAW2026 and check back on this page for dates and places.

Take part

How you can get involved

Host your own event
Big or small, it all counts. A coffee morning, a talk, a stall or an online chat. You do not need anyone's permission.
Share on social media
Post your story, or share someone else's, using #MCAW and #MCAW2026. Share your own MCAW logo too, and tag PatientsCann UK®.
Volunteer with us
Help on the tour, online or behind the scenes. Become a volunteer.
Donate
We are volunteer run. Donations help pay for fuel, travel and free resources for patients. Make a donation.
Tell us your plans
Use the form below, so we can help share what you are doing.

Other groups to support

Medcan Family Foundation

A registered charity (number 1211431) and patient-led group that supports families of children with severe epilepsy and other complex conditions, helping them fight for access to cannabis-based medicine.6,10

Visit Medcan Family Foundation

We, The Patients

A European patient-for-patient initiative that helps patients take the lead in their own care, through events and meetings with healthcare professionals.7

Visit We, The Patients

United Patients Alliance

One of the UK's longest-running patient-led groups, campaigning for safe, affordable and dignified access to medical cannabis.8

Visit United Patients Alliance

Intractable

A registered charity (number 1199192) set up by parents. It helps children and young adults with intractable epilepsy pay for privately prescribed medical cannabis.9

Visit Intractable

Tell us what you are planning

Planning something for Medical Cannabis Awareness Week, or want us to visit your area? Let us know. We will only use your details to reply to you and, if you agree, to help promote your event.

Thank you. We have your plans and will be in touch soon. Remember to share with #MCAW2026.

Help us reach every corner of the UK

The tour runs on volunteers and kind donations. Every bit of help gets us one step closer to patients who need to hear they are not alone.

Donate Become a volunteer Meet the motorsport team

References

References follow the Harvard style. Sources with no named author are listed by publisher.

  1. Weed World Magazine (2020) 'Medical Cannabis Awareness Week: calls for NHS prescriptions', Weed World Magazine, 1 November. Available at: weedworldmagazine.org (Accessed: 23 September 2026).
  2. Cannabis Health News (2022) 'Medical Cannabis Awareness Week 2022: everything you need to know', Cannabis Health, 24 October. Available at: cannabishealthnews.co.uk (Accessed: 23 September 2026).
  3. Cannabis Health News (2024) 'Awareness drive to mark six years of medical cannabis in the UK', Cannabis Health, 30 October. Available at: cannabishealthnews.co.uk (Accessed: 23 September 2026).
  4. Cannabis Industry Council (2023) '5th birthday of Medical Cannabis Awareness Week approaches', Cannabis Industry Council, 29 September. Available at: cicouncil.org.uk (Accessed: 23 September 2026).
  5. Ledger, E. (2024) 'Medical Cannabis Awareness Week 2024: what's on the agenda?', leafie, 31 October. Available at: leafie.co.uk (Accessed: 23 September 2026).
  6. Medcan Family Foundation (no date) Who we are. Available at: medcanfoundation.co.uk (Accessed: 23 September 2026).
  7. We, The Patients (2026) We, The Patients. Available at: wethepatients.eu (Accessed: 23 September 2026).
  8. United Patients Alliance (no date) United Patients Alliance. Available at: unitedpatientsalliance.org (Accessed: 23 September 2026).
  9. Charity Commission for England and Wales (no date) Intractable Epilepsy, registered charity number 1199192. Available at: register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk (Accessed: 23 September 2026).
  10. Charity Commission for England and Wales (no date) Medcan Family Foundation, registered charity number 1211431. Available at: register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk (Accessed: 23 September 2026).
Written by Mohammad "Ish" Wasway, Founder, PatientsCann UK®Patients first, always.