In my honest opinion? None of them \u2013 If we\u2019re talking about UK flower, extracts, oils, tinctures etc, that is.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s hardly their fault. Brand-as-a-marketing-play doesn\u2019t yet come into the equation. Right now, we\u2019re at a point where the challenge here in Britain is both raising awareness about the availability of medical cannabis <\/span>and<\/span> communicating its benefits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Or, as that most erudite cannabis connoisseur, UK Grime sensation, Big Narstie, so eloquently puts it: \u201c<\/span>The crisis of medicinal cannabis right now is not so much down to the product; it\u2019s the ecosystem between doctors and patients<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While clinics are better placed to conduct the cannabis conversation than producers\/distributors; the big question for me is \u2013 how do they best do that? And\u00a0how do they do so in a nation where illicit recreational use almost certainly outstrips legal medical usage?<\/span><\/p>\n As a consumer\/patient \u2013 where UK medical cannabis is concerned \u2013 choice or even brand awareness is negligible: save for a \u2018we have this or this, which do you prefer?\u2019 discussion with the clinic you go with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The supply chain issues are evident from the outset. I\u2019m presuming this is chiefly because all legal cannabis has to be imported into Britain (despite the fact <\/span>we\u2019re one of the World\u2019s biggest exporters of medical cannabis<\/span><\/a> \u2013 but that\u2019s another story).<\/span><\/p>\n There are also limited product categories. Sure, CBD companies have an opportunity to carve more of a \u2018consumer wellness-oriented affiliation\u2019 (albeit without making health claims) via a number of different form factors; but extolling the virtues of safe, consistent access to EU GMP-compliant, vapourised THC cannabis isn\u2019t the first thing the untapped medical cannabis community needs to hear about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Before we can even get to brand awareness, we need would-be patients to understand that medical cannabis is available, legal, and beneficial for a range of different health concerns. But whose role is it to educate potential patients?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Education and advocacy organisations like <\/span>Drug Science<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>Medical Cannabis Clinicians\u2019 Society<\/span><\/a> (MCCS), the <\/span>United Patients Alliance<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>PLEA<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Nurture Nursing<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Sativa Learning<\/span><\/a> are taking up the mantle \u2013 as well as clinics \u2013 in educating both patients and medical professionals. However, \u2018traditional\u2019 GPs don\u2019t seem that forthcoming. They feel they have no reason to be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Therefore we need to identify and lean into the things that will pique their interest: as an alternative treatment for pain relief for example. The UK hasn\u2019t experienced an opioid epidemic<\/a> to the same extent that the US has, so we don\u2019t have as radical or reactionary a public health crisis to address in which cannabis can offer a viable alternative to mainstream meds.<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say that we don\u2019t have patients suffering from conditions that are significantly alleviated by cannabis. But, as transformative as many of these cases are, they\u2019re in the minority. As a society, we\u2019re not at enough of a healthcare crisis tipping point to go in search of what many still see as \u2018bad drugs\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n The sad thing is, it\u2019s only by magnifying these individual cases that medical cannabis will get noticed as a force for good. It shouldn\u2019t be like that, but, alas, it is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Brands that want to be noticed should be stepping up and joining these advocacy efforts. They need to help normalise cannabis within healthcare \u2013 addressing particularly, as in my own case, the objections associated with cannabis as a treatment for mental health conditions. If that was done effectively \u2013 and it was made easier to access \u2013 then no doubt we\u2019d see patient numbers rise significantly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To ensure commercial success in medical-only markets, cannabis companies of all ilks need to work together to reduce stigma and drive awareness. For most patients in the UK, medicine as a commercial concern feels slightly shady (for want of a better term). Giving people what they need to feel better, of course that comes at a cost; but that cost is rarely prohibitive \u2013 thanks to the good old NHS. Unless we\u2019re talking about cannabis, that is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But undoubtedly things are changing. I think they have to. Why? Because healthcare is a global concern. So many people I\u2019ve met anecdotally attest to the positive properties of recreational cannabis in different scenarios \u2013 particularly in the US where the cost of healthcare\/insurance is often prohibitive to large swathes of the population. But here in Britain, we have the opposite problem. The meds our GPs offer are affordable, familiar, and in good supply.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The marketing challenge \u2013 one that goes beyond advertising restrictions,<\/a> Instagram takedowns, and Facebook bans \u2013 is about defining the line between medical and recreational cannabis. As I see it, if we want recreational markets to exist legally, then first we need medical cannabis to gain acceptance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The great irony is \u2013 in the UK at least \u2013 the perception persists that medical cannabis needs to be positioned as far away from recreational cannabis as possible. It requires legitimacy. We need to squeeze that particular Trojan Horse through the proverbial gates \u2013 and while it may anger some, we need to accept that many will opt for \u2018med-as-rec\u2019; if we want the stigma to end. And that\u2019s ok.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So how do we build authentic legitimacy \u2013 without reverting to te same tropes used by pharma, alcohol, and tobacco companies? We need cannabis to have as logical a purpose and identity as these sectors. If we want broad access to safe, effective cannabis products then we need to stop pretending it\u2019s the same as anything else. It isn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We should be focusing on the impact of cannabis: the \u2018experiences\u2019 it offers. But what do we do instead? At a consumer level, in non-rec markets like the UK, we fumble our way through CBD supplements, terpenes, and other barely legal solutions \u2013 many of which lean heavily on the \u2018grungy ganja leaf\u2019 aesthetic; something which I\u2019d argue a lot of would-be consumers (rec and med) don\u2019t identify with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With or without an eye on a possible recreational market, medical cannabis companies here in Europe are at the mercy of legislators, investors, public healthcare systems, overseas producers \u2014 before we even get to destigmatisation.<\/span><\/p>\n Building a cannabis brand that can transcend the inherent obstacles isn\u2019t easy. That doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s impossible, but making a case for cannabis consumption requires a commitment that you don\u2019t see elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s this duality, I\u2019d argue, that\u2019s at the heart of the destigmatisation conflict. Cannabis can be for <\/span>everyone<\/span>, but not everyone wants it. As a result, we lean into the audience that wants it most. Save for those who are going to consume it recreationally anyway, those who want it most are those who see its therapeutic value \u2013 as a medication and as a conduit to an elevated state of being.<\/span><\/p>\n What they maybe don\u2019t realise is that they have a ripe opportunity to double down on brand expansion; to diversify into other areas of cannabis culture; to promote and celebrate its impending arrival \u2014 through creating the legacy it wants to see.<\/span><\/p>\n I hate to be so obvious, but that\u2019s what Cookies has done: build a brand around cannabis-as-a-lifestyle, honing their rec consumption pitch as legalisation allows. Admittedly it\u2019s a bigger ask to reconcile an established adult-use brand with a medical audience. But maybe that\u2019s the sweet spot in uniting awareness \u2013 communicating the fact cannabis has a foot in both camps?<\/span><\/p>\n There is no simple answer; which is why marketing medical cannabis falls back on ways used by other sectors. But if we want all the things that make cannabis unique to shine, then we too must be prepared to look at it differently.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Dave Barton, co-founder of thermidor>:<\/p><\/div>\n Dave Barton<\/span><\/i><\/a> is co-founder and creative director at <\/span><\/i>thermidor<<\/span><\/i><\/a>: a content-led creative agency focused exclusively on cannabis, psychedelics, and plant medicine. He\u2019s also a UK-based medical cannabis patient and co-host of <\/span><\/i>the lobsterpot< podcast<\/span><\/i><\/a> (for his sins).\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat can I get you?<\/b><\/h4>\n
Educating the educated<\/b><\/h4>\n
Money vs medicine<\/b><\/h4>\n
Positioning x patients\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n
The duality of destigmatisation<\/b><\/h4>\n
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