How the UK’s drug laws have created an underground medical marijuana scene

Despite medical marijuana being legalised in several US states, as well as in countries including the Netherlands and Jamaica, the drug is a Class-B drug in the UK. Possession is punishable by five years in prison, while those caught supplying can land a 14-year sentence. Those against its use argue it is difficult to dose, and has been linked to mental health problems.

The latest installment of the Viceland documentary series Weediquette explores the use of medical marijuana in the UK, and features a single father-of-two named Paul, who illegally procures the drug to treat headaches he has endured daily for over a decade since suffering a stroke.

“It’s like a tightening of a skullcap on my head,” Paul Webster Hughes said of his headaches in the programme.

Hydro, a dealer, meanwhile gives away £20,000 worth of marijuana oil to those in chronic pain like Paul, which he creates using leaves discarded by cannabis growers – a process that has caused two accidental explosions.