Training the police on legalized medical cannabis: Lessons in building public trust, reducing harm and avoiding reputational damage

Metcalf McGrath, L ORCID: 0000-0003-3984-422X and Beckett Wilson, H ORCID: 0000-0002-6675-4572 (2025) Training the police on legalized medical cannabis: Lessons in building public trust, reducing harm and avoiding reputational damage. Policing, 19 (2025). ISSN 1752-4512

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Abstract

Worldwide, cannabis-based products for medical use are legally available in over sixty countries, reflecting major advances in clinical research and pharmaceutical investment. Although UK biotech companies are global leaders in medical cannabis products, the country is behind the international tide of policy change. New regulations in 2018 legalized cannabis prescribing, but have not been consistently implemented, nor adequately communicated to the public and public bodies, including the police. This paper reports on a police knowledge exchange and training pilot, delivered to two cohorts of UK Police Constable Degree Apprentices (n = 94) in response to an identified knowledge gap on cannabis-based medicines. The results show improved officer knowledge and a reduction in stigmatizing attitudes. The knowledge exchange identified training needs and procedural challenges for officers navigating shifting drug policy. It offers insights for improving operational practice to build public trust, reduce harm, and avoid reputational damage.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Cannabis; Drug Policy; Medical cannabis; Police training; Public Trust; Centre for the Study of Crime Criminalisation and Social Exclusion (CCSE); 1602 Criminology; 4402 Criminology
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General) R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology > HV7231 Criminal Justice Administrations > HV7551 Police. Detectives. Constabulary
Divisions:	Law and Justice Studies
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Date of acceptance:	2 October 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	20 November 2025
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2025 14:12
Last Modified:	20 Nov 2025 14:30
DOI or ID number:	10.1093/police/paaf047
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27597

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