Decolonising Knowledge from Within: The Case of UK Medical Cannabis

• In Event: Decolonizing Science: Where Have We Gotten To? - II

Abstract

To understand the challenges of decolonising knowledge, academics need to not only look outwards at the struggle of the marginalised Global South, but also inwards at how initiatives to break new ground within the Global North meet resistance. One of the most revealing cases is the imbalance between the legal and clinical acceptance of medical cannabis in the UK.

As of November 2018, registered consultants in the UK can prescribe cannabis to patients whenever their professional judgement sees fit. Yet to date, despite a number of patients with desperate conditions who have exhausted existing treatment options and requested medical cannabis, almost no prescriptions have been given. A key reason is the systematic resistance from medical organisations like the Royal College of Physicians. Their reluctance is based largely on the lack of evidence from clinical trials proving the efficacy of cannabis. Thus, for the legal acceptance of cannabis to be translated into clinical benefit, institutional beliefs of what counts as evidence need to be decolonised, that is medical professionals need to recognise that in some cases the so-called ‘gold standard’ may not be an appropriate measure of efficacy.

Based on a systematic review of news articles, government documents and grey literature, this paper examines the attempts (and failures) of patient groups and scientists who have sought to decolonise the right to develop cannabis applications from established medical discourses in the UK.

Author

• Michael Barr, Newcastle University