MCAW:
Medical Cannabis Awareness Week
What is MCAW?
From 1 to 7 November, patients, carers, families and supporters across the UK speak up about medical cannabis. No one owns the week. It is run by the community, for the community, and anyone can take part.
Medical Cannabis Awareness Week, often shortened to MCAW, is a yearly week of events, stories and conversations about cannabis as a medicine. It starts on 1 November. That date matters. On 1 November 2018, medical cannabis became legal to prescribe in the UK.
The week was first started in 2020, patients shared their stories, doctors and advocates joined online panels, and people across the UK were asked to talk about medical cannabis with friends and family.
In 2026, the week marks eight years since medical cannabis became legal to prescribe, it runs from 1 to 7 November as it does every year. We at the United Patients Alliance are Helping to carry on this tradition and encourage all to join in, whether thats by joining our events or throwing your own. MCAW is for everyone!
C — Cannabis Education: Demystifying legal prescription pathways, endocannabinoid science, and cannabis strains.
A — Advocacy & Access: Challenging systemic barriers to ensure safe, affordable access for everyone who needs treatment.
R — Research & Evidence: Highlighting real-world evidence, patient-led observational studies, and clinical insights.
E — Empowerment: Supporting patients through shared knowledge, community support, and pathways to self-sufficiency
Nobody needs permission to take part. You do not need to sign up to anyone, pay a fee or use a set logo. A patient talking to their GP, a family sharing a story online, a clinic holding an open day, a local group meeting in a cafe: all of these are Medical Cannabis Awareness Week.
Welcome to the United Patients Alliance Winter Raffle!
As the winter season sets in, we are thrilled to bring our community together for a chance to win some incredible prizes while supporting a cause we all believe in. Every ticket you purchase goes directly toward funding our advocacy work, helping us continue the fight for fair medical cannabis access and driving the patient revolution forward.
This year, we’ve partnered with some fantastic sponsors to bring you a prize pool you won't want to miss. Up for grabs are A 3 night stay at cannablis marbella with £200 towards travel, auto Skywalker haze Kush by Dutch passion, 2 x 3pck of northern lights 99 by seedsman and seedsman t-shirt and goodies , Storz & Bickel veazy, a pack of 3 auto blackberry kush and 3 guava root GMO of by Seedsman, Seedsman Shirt and hoodies and 2 Saphire+ vaporizers from vapefiend
. Whether you are hoping to treat yourself or share the winnings with a loved one, these prizes are our way of saying thank you for your unwavering support throughout the year.
Entering is quick and easy. Tickets are available for £1 each, and there is no limit on how many you can buy to increase your chances. Simply follow the payment link or transfer instructions below to secure your entries. Once your payment is confirmed, you will automatically be assigned your numbers for the draw.
The lucky winners will be selected by an automatic draw and announced across our website and social media platforms. Thank you for standing with us, good luck in the draw, and let's continue to champion patient access together!
1st Prize
3 night stay at cannablis marbella, 7 auto Skywalker haze Kush by Dutch passion, 2 x 3pck of northern lights 99 by seedsman and seedsman t-shirt and goodies
2nd Prize
Storz & Bickel Veazy , pack of 3 auto blackberry kush and 3 guava root gmo of by seedsman. + Shirt
and hoodies
we also have 2 3rd place prizes, kindly donated by vapefeind which are Saphire+ vapes up for grabs
also if we sell 420 tickets or more then we will be selecting 10 runners up to receive a storz & bickel hat and sunglasses
Our plan for
MCAW
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“Why I Became a Patient”
The week opens with the people at the heart of the campaign: patients.
Topics:
Life before medical cannabis
Discovering cannabis as medicine
Getting a prescription
What has changed
The cost of treatment
NHS vs private access
Stigma and discrimination
What patients still need
Format: 90-minute live patient panel + audience Q&A.
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“Eight Years On: What Is Medical Cannabis Access Actually Like?”
Bring together representatives from UK medical cannabis clinics to discuss the reality of accessing treatment.
Topics:
Who is accessing medical cannabis?
Cost of treatment
Patient support
Access barriers
NHS access
Affordability
Patient education
What needs to change?
Special segment: Ask the Clinic — questions submitted by patients.
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“Prescribing Cannabis: What Does the Medical Profession Really Think?”
A discussion with prescribing doctors and other healthcare professionals.
Topics:
Evidence vs patient experience
Why some doctors remain cautious
THC and CBD
Side effects and risks
Mental health
Dependency
Drug interactions
Medical education
The future of prescribing
Key question:
If medical cannabis is legal, why are so few NHS doctors prescribing it?
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“Patients Around the World — One Fight, Many Systems”
Connect UPA with patient activists from around the world.
Potential guests: UK, Germany, USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal and beyond.
Compare:
Legal access
Prescription costs
Public healthcare
Home cultivation
Patient rights
Criminalisation
Remaining barriers
Special feature:
The Global Patient Declaration
A collaborative statement setting out the principles that patients around the world believe should underpin medical cannabis policy.
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Tell the story of UPA and the UK patient campaign.
The timeline:
UPA's beginnings
Patient activism
Parliamentary campaigning
Patients at Parliament
The Billy Caldwell case and 2018 law change
The reality after legalisation
Brighton Medicinal Cannabis Summit
UPA's campaigns today
Bring back some of the people who were involved in the early campaign.
The big question:
“Did we actually win?”
Then ask the next generation of activists:
“What are we fighting for now?”
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“Should Medical Cannabis Patients Be Allowed to Grow Their Own Medicine?”
A patient-rights and policy discussion around home cultivation.
Topics:
Why patients want to grow
Affordability
Patient autonomy
Experiences in other countries
Quality and safety
Possible regulatory models
Criminalisation of patients
What legislation could look like
Campaign moment:
UPA — GROW YOUR OWN CAMPAIGN
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“Where Do We Go From Here?”
The big finale.
Bring together patients, campaigners, doctors, clinics, researchers and patient organisations.
Ask each participant:
“What is the single biggest change patients need to see over the next five years?”
Then UPA presents its proposed:
UPA 2027–2030 CAMPAIGN AGENDA
Potential pillars:
1. NHS ACCESS
2. AFFORDABLE MEDICINE
3. PATIENT RIGHTS
4. GROW YOUR OWN
5. BETTER MEDICAL EDUCATION
6. PATIENT INVOLVEMENT IN POLICY
7. INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
8. ENDING PATIENT STIGMAFinish with all the week's speakers coming back together and the question:
“What are we going to do next?”
MCAW
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Nov 1st-7th
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MCAW 〰️ Nov 1st-7th 〰️
We Want You To Join In!
--Get involved
What can you do?
There are so many things you can do to celebrate MCAW!
You could:
Host your own event- Anyone that wants to join in the MCAW celebrations should feel more than welcome to. The UPA encourage you to hold a meeting, coffee shop meet up or host an online event. Make your own MCAW logos and materials or use ours for free! [linked here]
Post on social media - Share your story, post pics of your own events and MCAW celebrations, use hashtags such as #MCAW and #MCAW2026, share your own logo and give us a tag, We’d love to see what you’re upto
Donate- The UPA is entirely volunteer ran, however unfortunately it still takes money to do anything. You can donate to help towards the hosting of our MCAW events or even to just support our campaigns.
Volunteer with us - As mentioned, everyone in the UPA is a volunteer, we give our time because we believe in the good medical cannabis does. Do you feel passionate about medical cannabis? Have you got a skill you feel would be helpful towards our goal? We would love to hear from you
Tell us what you’re up to- We love hearing from the community, contact us below to tell us your plans. We would love to help promote as many MCAW activities as possible