Colchester man slams Essex Police after seizing medicinal cannabis

Jamie Cunliffe, 35, of Colchester, was walking down the High Street last Saturday while smoking a legal cannabidiol (CBD) joint.

Mr Cunliffe, who was heading to his mum's to give her some flowers, was suddenly stopped by an Essex Police officer after they smelt marijuana.

Strong - Jamie Cunliffe with the confiscated medicinal marijuana (Image: Jamie Cunliffe)

Prescribed - Jamie Cunliffe's pot of prescribed medicinal marijuana (Image: Newsquest)​

He then says he calmly explained to the officer he is “severely disabled” as he suffers from a severe temporal lobe and tonic-clonic epilepsy.

Mr Cunliffe was diagnosed at the age of 18 by medical professionals and takes THC medicinal marijuana as a form of treatment. 

During the police stop, however, Mr Cunliffe's pot of cannabis, which is medically prescribed by the Curaleaf Pharmacy, was seized. 

The Gazette has since seen documents proving the prescription.

Medicine - The pot contains a copy of Jamie Cunliffe's prescription paper on the side of it (Image: Newsquest)

Above beard - The packing which is inside the pot (Image: Newsquest)

Weed - An exmaple of the medicinal marjuana found within the pot (Image: Newsquest)

After requesting to speak to the officer's superior, and highlighting the UK government had made medicinal marijuana legal in October 2018, a police sergeant attended.

Despite this, the officers still refused to return Mr Cunliffe's prescription, although they refrained from arresting him. 

Mr Cunliffe was then left with no medicinal marijuana to take over the weekend as it can take more than 24 hours to obtain from his provider and its main facilities are only open Monday to Friday.

As a result of not being able to take his required dosage of medicinal marijuana that evening, Mr Cunliffe says he suffered a seizure.

Extra - Legal CBD marijuana which was not part of his medicinal prescription (Image: Newsquest)

Inside - The CBD marijuana (Image: Newsquest)
He also says he suffered a second seizure on Sunday, and on Monday went to Colchester police station to retrieve his confiscated marijuana after being advised by Curaleaf Pharmacy to do so.

Mr Cunliffe said: “I proved it was legal.

“If I have a seizure over five minutes, I would be at the risk of brain damage.

“It effectively put my life at risk.”

Jamie now wants police officers to be educated on the importance of medicinal marijuana and the legal rights around it.

He said: “I refuse to be bullied by the police - I did not do anything hostile.

“There was no formal apology, so I followed advice and went to the station and didn’t leave without it.

“It’s a complete lack of trust for the police service and lack of awareness for all disabled patients across the country who use it.

“I’ve been let down by the service and my life was put at risk due to this officer not being educated and he abused his rights.”

Upset - Jamie Cunliffe, in Colchester (Image: Newsquest)
Essex Police bosses have now responded.

A spokesman for the police said: “Wherever possible, our officers want to minimise the disruption they may cause to the lives of members of the public.

“This means only arresting people where absolutely necessary, such as preventing them committing an offence, or harming themselves or others.

“Officers may also seize anything they believe has been as a result of a criminal offence, or evidence of a criminal offence.

“These are powers that have strict criteria set out in the Police and Criminal evidence Act 1984.

“In this instance, our officers seized the cannabis from a member of the public in order to make appropriate enquiries.

"Once this was resolved and it was proven to have been legally obtained, the property was returned.”