A significant number of medical cannabis patients have suffered from mould toxicity according to countless reports received by Cancard – a UK organisation that provides medical cannabis ID cards to eligible patients.
In a recent press release, Cancard, which currently represents around 27,000 patients in the UK, explained that inhaling mould can cause severe headaches, lung dysfunction, immune reaction, and asthma attacks.
The reports from medical cannabis patients include the ones below:
“I have had a pounding headache for the last week and my throat is feeling nasty. I’ve not slept. I have 3 pouches – 2 indica and a sativa all this batch. I can’t afford anything else, not even some street. I feel I’ve been robbed. I have gone through nearly 20g in the week its done nothing, it’s so hard staying on the script when I know there is good cannabis out there.”
“I had one of the batches and I felt it wasn’t right. It’s going to take some time to sort out the exchange with the pharmacy. I had to call my old supplier to cover my medicine over the weekend. I have spent all of my savings on this prescription only to have to replace it with cannabis I know is safe I won’t be paying for another prescription that’s for sure.”
“These headaches are so bad, this is supposed to be medicine but it’s made me sick. What am I going to do now? How can I trust the next batch? I have been taking cannabis for 30 years, I have never gotten mouldy product from my dealers.”
The affected products were cannabis flowers from NIODECS, which provides for flowers for inhalation to the majority of privately prescribed patients in the UK.
NIODECS has released a statement recalling the two affected batches, as well as advising patients not to consume the medications. The UK government has also since released a statement to the same effect.
Carly Barton, the founder of Cancard, stated in a press release:
“This is such a disappointing situation. Many patients in the UK have spent thousands of pounds to become legally protected from prosecution for taking the medicine that helps them, they do so in the belief that these products would be safer.
“The fact that patients who live with chronic debilitating illnesses are now suffering from mould toxicity simply for choosing the legal route is unforgivable.
“Realistically small grow operations that are currently illegal in the UK have better quality control, this is difficult with large scale operations where the required care and attention isn’t as viable.
“Many patients have returned to the illicit market this weekend and have lost faith in the private clinics. This is the result of a profit driven model. There is space for a more community-centred approach – with a health centre and dispensary that comes from a more genuine place with rigorous testing.”
Cancard has received over 29,000 applications since its launch in November last year, offering protection to those who are unable to afford a private prescription for medical cannabis. The latest stop and search data demonstrates that 99% of Cancard holders have received no further action for possession of illegal cannabis and have been left in charge of their medicine as a result of producing their ID.
