The family of Oliver Robinson, who took his own life in November 2023 aged 34, is campaigning for stricter controls on private cannabis clinics in the UK. An inquest in January concluded that his prescription for medicinal cannabis 'probably contributed to his death' and 'acted as an obstacle' to him receiving appropriate psychiatric care. The coroner for Manchester North, Catherine McKenna, ruled that the prescription, issued by Curaleaf Clinic in May 2022, was the first ruling of its kind.
Oliver's brother, Alexander Robinson, is launching 'Oliver's law', which calls for a ban on prescribing cannabis to patients with serious mental illness, mandatory consultation with NHS mental health teams, and face-to-face assessments for complex cases. The campaign also demands tougher oversight by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), including routine audits and publication of prescribing data, as well as mandatory reporting of serious harms and clearer sanctions from the General Medical Council.
Medicinal cannabis was legalised in the UK in 2018, but most private prescriptions are for unlicensed products. Freedom of information data shows that 659,293 unlicensed cannabis products were privately prescribed in 2024, more than double the 282,920 in 2023. An estimated 80,000 people in the UK currently receive private prescriptions, despite limited evidence for cannabis as a treatment for depression.
Dr Pavan Chahl, an expert psychiatrist, told the inquest that under current British National Formulary guidance, medicinal cannabis should not be prescribed to someone with a history of severe psychiatric disorder. 'Oliver Robinson should never have been prescribed medicinal cannabis,' he said. Alexander Robinson said: 'If things do not change he is not going to be the last.'
