David Miller: Connecting physical and mental health with medical cannabis

How would your condition affect you before you tried medical cannabis?

It could be up and down. It could be varied. I'm not a great sleeper. I can be a bit socially avoidant. I would look at situations and find workarounds for things that I probably shouldn’t, just because I spend a lot of time in my own space. Even when I'm with people, I'm always a little bit distant. 

It's not always depression, as in feeling terribly bad about myself. I do have particularly bad days. In the past, I used to have bad days, and I would get down for a long time, like there was no way out of it. These days, when I have a bad day, I tend to just accept that it's going to go away at some point, and it's not something to get too caught up on. 

Cannabis doesn’t necessarily make me feel better, but it helps me in a process - you know, my head gets very cluttered, and my mind gets overloaded, overthinking, and I find it helps with that. Also, it encourages me to get more exercise because I don't like being enclosed when using it.

I like to get out and about, and so I probably spend a lot more time walking now. I go out in nature a lot more.

Before you were in Canada, did you know that medical cannabis was legal in the UK?

I did, but I thought it was probably more for people with MS or something incurable. I would never have considered talking to a GP about it. Although it took me a long time to get anti-depressants, even though I'd been feeling that way for a while, because I'm the sort of person who tells themselves it's not for me, it's for people who are worse off. 

But then I saw the advert on YouTube, which led me to the Releaf eligibility checker, so I tried it, and it said I was eligible. So I followed up on it.

Signing up was very easy. It took a little while to get the appointment, but the two doctors I spoke to were very pleasant, approachable, and helpful. The appointment was good. I probably overthink things, so I was thinking about what I should be saying rather than just speaking. But the doctors were really nice.

Had you ever used ‘black market’ cannabis before you were prescribed UK medical cannabis?

Yeah, probably since my teenage years, just parties or with friends or things like that. It hasn't been constant, but periodically, depending on what was going on in my life, who I was hanging about with.

What I'm prescribed by Releaf now and what I tried in the States and Canada are very similar. It really stimulates my mind and helps me process my thoughts. What I used back in the day when I was younger was very different; it just shut me down, made me sleepy, and it wasn’t stimulating.

Would you say that taking medical cannabis has had an effect on your work in any way?

If I've got a lot of stuff to do, I would avoid it until afterwards. It's something I would rather do at the end of the day when I've got everything done. I don't want to be impaired if I've got things I need to be sensible for.

I mostly work overseas, so I’m cautious of laws in other countries. For example, one of the last contracts I had was in Saudi Arabia, so that would have been a terrible idea. But if it were a place where I could do it, then I would try and take it with me. 

How do you feel about the idea of travelling with your medical cannabis as a patient?

Since I received my prescription, I have travelled to the Channel Islands for a few days and France for a few days, so I did take it with me. I requested a digital copy of a travel certificate from the Releaf website, which was very easy and quick. 

I got stopped in Jersey for a random bag search. I showed them the paperwork, and that was fine. I went through France, and nobody asked anything. As long as I've done everything I can to prove I've got it for the right reasons, I don't feel too worried about it.

In the UK, I wouldn't give it a second thought because I carry my Releaf medical cannabis card with me and I know I'm not going to get into trouble. I think I'm more conscious of the laws in other countries, but at home, I feel very comfortable.

Do you think that you can see a future where medical cannabis is more widely accepted?

My family is kind of on the fence about it. I suppose my dad's a bit of an old-fashioned guy, it's not like he's against it or anything - he wouldn't say don't do it or anything like that. But I think most people these days don't consider it to be negative, or that people my age would be bothered.

I would say I am a little surprised that in the UK it's not more in the process of becoming recreationally legal. Especially given that in Canada, and in many parts of the United States and some other countries, it's been legalised. It hasn't caused any massive problems in those countries. So, it surprises me that it's not more widely available. I would imagine in the years to come, it would be.

Do you have any hopes and dreams for the coming months as a legal UK medical cannabis patient?

I used to go swimming quite a lot, and I fell out of an exercise pattern for a while. On a bit of a whim, I went swimming for the first time in a while the other day. I'm thinking of getting back into that. I think I understand more about the connection between physical health and mental health. I probably didn't give that too much consideration before, but if you feel better physically, it helps you mentally as well.

If you would like to learn more about medical cannabis treatment options for the conditions mentioned in this Patient Story, please see medical cannabis for depression.