- This is a draft which has been prepared for translation and review by a native speaker. It will not be moved to mainspace until it has been properly proofread. The original article is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_the_United_Kingdom. You can compare with the Welsh draft version (still being proofread) at: User:Goonsquad_LCpl_Mulvaney/Cannabis_UK
Cannabis in the United Kingdom is illegal for recreational use and is classified as a Class B drug. In 2004, cannabis was made a Class C drug with less severe penalties but it was moved back to Class B in 2009. Medical use of cannabis when prescribed by a registered specialist doctor was legalised in November 2018.
Cannabis is widely used as an illegal drug in the UK, while other strains lower in THC (commonly called hemp) have been used industrially for over a thousand years for fibre, oil and seeds. Cannabis has been restricted as a drug in the United Kingdom since 1928, though its usage as a recreational drug was limited until the 1960s, when increasing popularity led to stricter 1971 classification.
Despite the fact that cannabis is illegal in the UK, with limited availability for medical use, the United Kingdom is the world's largest exporter of legal cannabis.[1] The United Kingdom is also home to GW Pharmaceuticals, one of the world's largest producers of medical cannabis and the company behind the first cannabis derived products approved in major markets—Sativex and Epidiolex.[2][3]
- ^ International Narcotics Control Board. "Narcotic Drugs - Estimated World Requirements for 2018 - Statistics for 2016" (PDF). United Nations. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Sativex Patient Information - MS Spasticity". GW Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ^ "GW Pharmaceuticals plc and its U.S. Subsidiary Greenwich Biosciences Announce FDA Approval of EPIDIOLEX® (cannabidiol) oral solution – the First Plant-derived Cannabinoid Prescription Medicine". GW Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved 5 December 2018.