FOI 197456
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 197456
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 20th September 2022. Please find below the response to your request:
REQUEST 1:
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What would you like to know?: Please provide information on what training your officers have received in relation to situations when they are dealing with a medical cannabis patient
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REQUEST 2:
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What would you like to know?: please provide information on your policies and procedures when dealing with a person in posession of cannabis legally as a medical cannabis patient.
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REQUEST 3:
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What would you like to know?: What evidence would a medical cannabis patient have to provide to an officer to prove they are in legal posession of their medical cannabis.
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REQUEST 4:
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What would you like to know?: How are you officers trained to deal with a sitiuation whereby a vehicle is stopped at the roadside and a person is found to have cannabis in their system by means of a drugs wipe but that person is a medical cannabis patient.
Reply
REQUEST 1:Please provide information on what training your officers have received in relation to situations when they are dealing with a medical cannabis patient
In West Mercia Police the force Drugs Expert Witnesses (DEW) have attended medical Cannabis CPD events. They are the point of contact for all drug offence enquiries. All frontline officers liaise with the DEW and the Force Controlled Drug Liaison Officer (CDLO) when presented with a medical cannabis patient case. Information is available on the force intranet for all officers to access.
REQUEST 2: Please provide information on your policies and procedures when dealing with a person in possession of cannabis legally as a medical cannabis patient.
No information held - West Mercia Police do not have their own policy. West Mercia Police are governed by national guidelines from the Home office and the NPCC.
REQUEST 3: What evidence would a medical cannabis patient have to provide to an officer to prove they are in legal possession of their medical cannabis.
The patient would need to produce the original medication container complete with the pharmacy dispensing label bearing the name of the patient; with either a copy of their FP10 prescription or a letter from the prescribing clinician; and a form of recognised photo ID such as a passport or driving licence bearing the same name, date of birth/address as that displayed on the dispensing label and the copy of the FP10 or clinician's letter.
REQUEST 4: How are you officers trained to deal with a situation whereby a vehicle is stopped at the roadside and a person is found to have cannabis in their system by means of a drugs wipe but that person is a medical cannabis patient.
Where the level of cannabis present is sufficient to fail a roadside drug swipe the patient would be processed for drug driving in much the same way as someone with an alcohol addiction would be if they were to fail a roadside breath test. The fact that they are a medical cannabis patient would be a potential mitigating factor for consideration by CPS and the courts to consider prior to their disposal of the case.