Royal Australian Navy - 👉 Bachelor of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Written For
Releaf, Business Of Cannabis, CPD, Cannabis Now Magazine, High Times, Cookies Seeds, Fast Buds, MSNL, Paradise Seeds, Premium Cultivars
Sam North is a content writer at Releaf, specialising in medical cannabis, digital health, and patient education within a UK regulatory framework.
After a decade immersed in the cultivation side of the cannabis industry, Sam moved into digital in 2020. He worked across the recreational space with seed companies, CBD brands, and cannabis publications, before transitioning into the medical cannabis sector in early 2023 and joining Releaf in April of that year.
Today, his work spans both content and SEO, with a focus on how the two support patient understanding and long-term organic growth. He writes and shapes educational content, research breakdowns, and patient-facing web copy, ensuring it is clear, clinically accurate, and aligned with UK compliance requirements.
At Releaf, Sam’s focus is on making medical cannabis more understandable and accessible to patients, while maintaining a high standard of accuracy, compliance, and trust.
At Releaf, “How does medical cannabis affect blood pressure?” is one of the more common questions we hear from new patients, but the honest answer is, it depends. Every patient is different, and the effects of prescribed medical cannabis can and do vary depending on a range of factors. We spoke to one of our medical cannabis doctors, Dr Lorenzo Bernaudo to find out more.
For most men, testosterone levels start to decline in our mid 30s. The result isn't always overly noticable at first, but as testosterone starts to slip into the lower end of normal range, you might start feeling a little more tired, low, or just not quite yourself. Medical cannabis won't replace hormones, but it may help ease symptoms like fatigue, poor sleep, low mood, and libido shifts.
A major 2023 clinical review has brought new clarity to how cannabis medicines are being used in neurological care. This blog unpacks the evidence across epilepsy, MS, Parkinson’s, Tourette’s, and more, and explains how private UK clinics like Releaf are helping patients access personalised treatment when other options have fallen short.
Why do some people carry fear long after danger has passed, or react to safe situations in the same way as when they are in actual danger? A new cross-species study explores how 2-AG, a molecule in the brain’s endocannabinoid system, may influence trauma responses. The findings offer fresh insight into PTSD, fear generalisation, and the potential role of cannabinoid-based treatment.
Smoking prescribed medical cannabis is not permitted in the UK. Instead, patients are instructed to administer their medication using medical vaporisers or alternative formats such as oils. In this expert interview, Releaf doctor Dr Alexander Van Heerden explains why combustion undermines treatment goals, how vaporisation changes dosing and inhalation dynamics, and what patients should know when transitioning from smoking to vaporised cannabinoids.
Releaf is the most trusted medical cannabis clinic in the UK based on Trustpilot data, with over 7,025 reviews and a 4.8 rating. This 2026 update explains how Releaf compares to other major UK medical cannabis clinics, including Alternaleaf, Mamedica, Curaleaf, CB1 Medical, and why Releaf has been the most trusted medical cannabis clinic in the UK for more than 18 months (based on Trustpilot reviews).
In this week's Decoding Cannabis article, we unpack a recent expert review exploring how medical cannabis may ease cancer treatment side effects. The study highlights its potential to relieve pain, nausea, anxiety, and more, offering support where conventional care sometimes comes up short.
MS isn’t just physical. Many people experience hidden symptoms like anxiety, depression, memory problems and brain fog - issues that often go unseen and untreated. This World MS Day, we’re highlighting the emotional and cognitive impact of MS, and why these symptoms deserve just as much care as the visible ones.
From bloating and nausea to IBD and IBS, digestive symptoms are hard to treat and among the most common reasons people in the UK consider medical cannabis. But does it work, and if so, how? In this article, we break down what the research says about cannabis, digestion, and gut-related conditions.
In this Decoding Cannabis blog, we explore a large real-world study of patients taking medical cannabis for chronic pain. The findings highlight how it's being used, how well it's working, and why more people are turning to it when other treatments fall short.
Following a joint Thai/UK customs operation, over two tonnes of confiscated cannabis are being redirected to medical research. It's an unusual yet symbolic shift in how governments are choosing to handle cannabis: not as mere contraband, but as a potential public health asset.
Can cannabis support mental health? This edition of Decoding Cannabis explores the 2020 clinical review on cannabinoids for depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia - and why cautious optimism, not overstatement, is key.
Synthetic cannabis has nothing in common with real cannabis, despite the name. It’s an unregulated, dangerous class of drugs with unpredictable and often severe effects. In this blog, we break down the science, the history, and the human cost of synthetic cannabinoids like Spice and Black Mamba
Menopause can bring complex physical and emotional symptoms that affect daily life. This Decoding Cannabis article explains how UK medical cannabis and CBD may help ease sleep issues, anxiety, and pain when used under clinical guidance. With UK regulation and medical oversight at its core, the piece highlights evidence, safety, and how cannabis may support women through the menopause transition
Medical cannabis may not be a cure for fibromyalgia, but for many UK patients, it’s helping reduce pain, improve sleep, and ease reliance on conventional meds. This real-world study shows how cannabis could reshape chronic pain treatment.
Cancer reshapes lives in an instant, and for many, conventional treatments come with overwhelming side effects. In the largest study of its kind, researchers analysed over 10,000 pieces of scientific evidence to answer a vital question: can medical cannabis play a meaningful role in cancer care? From managing relentless pain and nausea to supporting sleep and emotional wellbeing, here’s what the science says - and where we go from here.
Opioids have long been the default for managing most chronic pain issues. Albeit powerful at targeting pain, many would argue they have been overly prescribed, and they are often alarmingly hard to come off. Yet quietly, another option has been slowly but surely making inroads in chronic pain treatment: medical cannabis.
In 2025, CBD oil is readily available in the UK - but how much of it is actually absorbed by the body when you take it orally? In this first instalment of our new blog series, ‘Decoding Cannabis’, we dissect a recent lab study that looks into one of the biggest issues with orally administered CBD oil - low rates of absorption.
Stress isn’t just a feeling - it’s a full-body chain reaction and one that shouldn't be ignored (especially when it becomes chronic). This write-up explains what stress really is, how it affects the brain and body, and how UK medical cannabis may help regulate the system when chronic stress takes hold.
Each and every week, our new ‘Decoding Cannabis’ series will take a recent piece of medical cannabis research - be it a clinical trial, observational study, registry report, etc. - and unpack it in a way that’s relevant and easily understandable to UK medical cannabis patients.
The Releaf CBD store is open to anyone with an email address, a registered UK phone number, and a delivery address, and offers UK residents a new way to access the best CBD products - no UK medical cannabis prescription needed.
At Releaf, patient care and safety are at the core of everything we do.
We don’t just hand you a UK medical cannabis prescription, send you on your way, and wish you well - we stay with you, check in regularly, and listen.
At Releaf, we have taken what some private medical cannabis clinics turn into a maze and untangled it to make it as smooth, efficient, and simple a process as possible, with most prescriptions delivered within 2 working days.
Releaf clinicians can prescribe from a carefully curated range of medical cannabis flower and medical cannabis oil products. While Releaf does not have control over the branding of a portion of the medicines we source from international medical cannabis suppliers, we have worked tirelessly to make sure that our branding, packaging, and external product selection aligns with UK medical standards.