Medical cannabis for police staff (FOI ref: 251/26)
Request
I request the latest copies of the following information held by your force as of time of writing:
Definitions:
"Prescribed medical cannabis" means Cannabis-Based Products for Medicinal Use (CBPMs) lawfully prescribed under The Misuse of Drugs (Amendments) (Cannabis and Licence Fees) (England, Wales and Scotland) Regulations 2018.
1. Policy Documents
Copies of current policies, procedures, or guidance relating to:
Employment of police staff who use prescribed medical cannabis
How drug/alcohol policies apply to lawfully prescribed CBPMs
Reasonable adjustments for staff with prescribed medications
2. Current Practice (non-warranted, non-safety-critical roles only)
a) Does your force currently employ police staff permitted to use prescribed medical cannabis? (Yes/No)
b) If yes:
How many staff (aggregate figure only)
Generic role categories (e.g., "administrative", "analyst")
3. Risk Assessments
Copies of any risk assessments, legal opinions, or Equality Act 2010 impact assessments regarding staff use of prescribed medical cannabis.
4. Adjustment Procedures
Any documented procedures for assessing or monitoring reasonable adjustments for staff prescribed medical cannabis.
Response
1. Copies of current policies, procedures, or guidance relating to:
Employment of police staff who use prescribed medical cannabis
How drug/alcohol policies apply to lawfully prescribed CBPMs
Reasonable adjustments for staff with prescribed medications
Please find our substance misuse policy attached. This is applicable to both officers and staff and references prescribed cannabis based products.
Please note - A small amount of information has been redacted from the policy prior to disclosure. The direct contact details and links relating to the Employee Assistance Programme have been withheld under Section 43(32) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, as disclosure could prejudice the commercial interests of the service provider. In addition, the names of staff members associated with the policy, other than the Force Executive Lead, have been removed under Section 40(2), as disclosure would contravene data protection principles. These are minimal redactions which do not affect the overall content or understanding of the policy and the remainder of the document has been provided in full.
2a) Does your force currently employ police staff permitted to use prescribed medical cannabis? (Yes/No)
2b) If yes:
How many staff (aggregate figure only)
Generic role categories (e.g., "administrative", "analyst")
West Midlands Police can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any relevant data by virtue of Section 40(5B) - Personal information
Details of this exemption can be found here:
Freedom of information | College of Policing - s40
Under Section 40(5B) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we are not obliged to confirm or deny whether the information you have requested is held, as to do so would breach the data protection principles set out in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. In this case, confirming or denying whether any individual is employed by the force and permitted to use prescribed medical cannabis would involve disclosing special category personal data relating to health. The first data protection principle requires that personal data be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner, and such a confirmation would not meet these requirements.
This is an absolute exemption and is not subject to the public interest test.
No inference should be taken from this response as to whether the information you have requested is or is not held.
3. Copies of any risk assessments, legal opinions, or Equality Act 2010 impact assessments regarding staff use of prescribed medical cannabis.
An equality impact assessment is conducted as part of the substance misuse policy and is contained within the attached policy.
4. Any documented procedures for assessing or monitoring reasonable adjustments for staff prescribed medical cannabis.
We do not have a specific, documented procedure for assessing reasonable adjustments for staff prescribed medical cannabis. These would be managed in conjunction with Occupational Health on a case by case basis, in line with our usual reasonable adjustment process.
Attachment