Dear [insert MP name], Firstly I would like to congratulate you on your election to office. It is quite an amazing thing to put yourself forward for public support and the scrutiny that comes with it. Thank you for giving us in our shared constituency your service.

There is a matter I would like to bring to your attention that is close to my heart and which I feel and know needs to be addressed. I am not alone in my beliefs so I feel strongly that this issue deserves more attention than it is currently receiving.

Medical Cannabis prescriptions were legalised in 2018 via private clinics. This has given a lifeline to people like myself who is diagnosed with [insert illness] and which other medications have not been successful in treating.

Whilst this legal progression is positive news, the cost associated with private medical clinics is expensive and as a result acts as another prohibition preventing people from accessing it based on costs.

There was a recent petition on the Home Office Petitions site calling for MPs to debate patients – who have been prescribed medical cannabis based products by a doctor – to be able to grow a small number of plants at home.

The difference in cost to patients is ten times greater when purchasing herbal cannabis flowers through a clinic than growing at home. There are a number of other benefits to home growing other than cost.

Germany allows all adults over the age of 18 to grow 3 cannabis plants at home, even without the need for a prescription.

In the UK the Governments official response is that homegrown cannabis is not an adequate substitute for prescribed cannabis flowers.

This is an absurd claim because there were reported to be 1 million patients in the UK using cannabis as medicine prior to it’s legalisation in 2018 who were all using homegrown cannabis products – clearly, they must be a suitable option for many so there remains some level of hypocrisy in the governments statement and the lived experience of a million people living with an illness.

Living with a health condition and medical diagnosis is difficult. But it is made more difficult by poor government policy that forces people like myself to pay extortionate medical bills which only serve to profit companies who see “patients for life” as a never ending cash cow.

I am requesting a meeting to speak with you about this matter so that you will be able to hear how this issue is impacting my life and other constituents lives on a daily basis. Please could you provide me with suitable meeting times that you can offer to see me at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

[Insert name]