A medical hashish affected person says he feels he’s being “compelled out” of his hometown on account of unfair discrimination by native authorities.
Danny Wilson, who lives in Norwich, says he has no alternative however to rebuild his life elsewhere after remedy by native landlords and council officers has “made his life hell”.
The 44-year-old, who’s going through eviction from his present property, claims the council is insisting he disclose the very fact he’s a medical hashish affected person to potential landlords.
Consequently, he says, all of his purposes have been refused.
Wilson, who lives with continual ache following a automobile accident a number of years in the past, has been prescribed hashish by The Medical Cannabis Clinics since 2020.
He survives on employment and incapacity advantages and is compelled to depend on meals banks to be able to fund his prescription privately.
Wilson has been served two Part 21 eviction notices from his present tenancy, which the owner says is because of the property being bought.
Nevertheless, in accordance with Wilson, the eviction discover solely got here after he made his hashish prescription identified to the owner.
Following an inspection, which he says “went badly when he advised the agent he was utilizing medical hashish within the property”, Wilson approached Norwich Metropolis Council for assist to fund the deposit for a brand new tenancy.
The council agreed, however has since insisted that he disclose the very fact he’s a medical hashish affected person, and that he must medicate indoors, to potential landlords.
He says all of his purposes have been refused on him disclosing this info, and because of this, he has been prevented from shifting from his present residence.
“They’re treating me in a different way due to my treatment, which they proceed to deal with as a bootleg substance,” Wilson advised Hashish Well being.
“They’ve made me disclose the truth that I’m a medical hashish consumer on each utility I’ve made, despite the fact that I’ve knowledgeable them it’s traumatising me.
“They wouldn’t write to my medical physician about my case for over a 12 months, and all through have handled me like a drug consumer, not a disabled one who is weak and whose life they had been making hell.”
Wilson, who vapes hashish flower to handle his signs, says he has been on plenty of events, if he might medicate open air.
One landlord is claimed to have advised him he wouldn’t be permitted to vape within the property, because it wouldn’t be “honest” to different tenants.
“They suppose it’s unreasonable for me to wish to medicate in a protected setting, and to be comfy,” provides Wilson, who has even put in a carbon filter in his room to mitigate the odor of hashish.
“There’s nowhere else for me to go, I don’t have a backyard and I reside on the sting of an property, the closest bench is in full view of the general public.”
The council can also be mentioned to have prompt that he take up residence in a rehab facility for ex-offenders, identified domestically as Home of Genesis. That is regardless of the very fact he has by no means been charged with a prison offence.
Wilson, who additionally has extreme nervousness, PTSD and ADHD, says the scenario, which has been ongoing for over a 12 months, has exacerbated his psychological well being points and left him with bodily sores from compulsive scratching on account of nervousness.
He additionally claims that he has beforehand struggled to entry psychological well being providers within the space and nonetheless can’t entry remedy from his native ache clinic, as he’s a hashish affected person.
“They’ve made my psychological well being 10 occasions worse – I’m damaged,” says Wilson, who’s now contemplating shifting away from his adopted hometown.
“I simply wish to rebuild my life someplace else now, as a result of I’ve needed to undergo a lot right here, and it’s degrading,” he provides.
“However I’m devastated as a result of that is my residence.”
Hashish Well being has contacted Norwich Metropolis Council for remark and to verify the claims, however has not acquired a response.
What the specialists say
Stephen Cutter, solicitor and authorized providers supervisor for Release, advised Hashish Well being: “The legal guidelines round prescribed medicinal hashish are comparatively unpublicised, and this may very well be one motive we see sufferers undergo from avoidable issues.
“The regulation is obvious in that it treats prescribed medicinal hashish and ‘illicit’ hashish, even when used for medical causes, as two solely completely different substances, and each native authorities and personal landlords might want to hold this in thoughts when coping with sufferers utilizing their drugs.
“The adjustments that allowed for prescribed medicinal hashish, additionally mentioned that sufferers weren’t to make use of it by smoking it although different strategies of consumptions, like the usage of vaporisers, aren’t restricted.”
He added: “If native authorities are imposing necessities for medicinal hashish sufferers to reveal their well being situations and drugs to entry housing, or if landlords are treating them in a different way to sufferers of different drugs, then I believe these sufferers might have a spread of authorized challenges they may discover.
“It’s an enormous disgrace that the stigma that many have in the direction of individuals who use hashish is extending now to these utilizing prescription drugs.”
Carly Barton, founding father of Cancard, an organisation which helps hashish sufferers going through discrimination, added that whereas a housing authority or council might request a duplicate of a affected person’s prescription, they “should not have the suitable to problem the place the affected person is consuming the drugs, as long as it’s being consumed as prescribed ie. by a vaporiser.”
She mentioned: “The rules listed here are clear and on this case the affected person has the identical rights to take their treatment as some other prescription treatment.”
Affected person advocacy group, PLEA (Patient-Led Engagement for Access), can also be supporting Wilson together with his case.
A spokesperson mentioned: “Public authorities have a authorized obligation to respect your human rights in addition to observe the Equality Act 2010. This prohibits degrading remedy and discriminating towards you as per Article 3, and 14 of the Human Rights Act.
“PLEA can be involved to study of any native authority that may require a disabled affected person to reveal their prescribed hashish and medical situation/s to potential landlords, to ensure that them to obtain help in having access to housing, and in doing so subjecting them to degrading behaviour, which carries the chance of long-lasting psychological hurt.
“If an area authority, has practices, guidelines, or insurance policies that locations disabled sufferers with cannabis-based prescription medicines, at a specific drawback then this may very well be grounds for discrimination, and we’d encourage anybody to hunt help in such issues. Particularly if this was not, one thing anticipated, or required of sufferers prescribed some other managed medicines, and because of this the practices, guidelines or insurance policies, of the native authority locations disabled sufferers with prescriptions for hashish at a specific drawback.
“On this case, PLEA are actively supporting Danny, and can proceed to take action till a passable conclusion is reached, and leads to Danny being housed in a protected and appropriate setting, with the proper help packages in place, to allow Danny to reside independently, and with out worry of dropping his residence attributable to his prescription.”