A Leeds man on benefits is barely able to afford his medical cannabis bills and desperately wants a free NHS prescription.
Gregory Metcalfe, 45, has to buy cannabis online with his private prescription, which gets very costly, especially since he lives off Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payments (PIP).
The Harehills man suffers from epilepsy, depression, anxiety and recently had a spinal injury, and takes medical cannabis to deal with those problems – which has been legal since 2018 if prescribed by a specialist.
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Greg claims he paid £70 for an online consultation with a specialist doctor and then a further £300 cannabis products from an online private prescription company.
Greg claims he tried to get an NHS doctor to prescribe cannabis to him but was told he had to go to the specialist.
With an NHS prescription, Greg would be able to receive expensive Sativex for free, which is a cannabis spray that is applied to one’s mouth – it would be free because he’s on benefits.
Greg Metcalfe plans to sell his art, in his three piece cannabis suit, to raise funds for his cannabis medication
(Image: Gregory Metcalfe)
Greg said: “If I could afford it, I would try to start buying the specific cannabis product which is called Sativex. It’s one that’s really dear to my heart as that’s the medication which I really really want.
“It’s just really expensive and I can’t afford it at the moment on this private prescription.”
On a private prescription, Greg said he was looking at a bill of £349 for a small bottle of Sativex – “I couldn’t believe it,” he muttered.
‘really rubbish’
The packaging Greg’s medical cannabis comes in
(Image: Gregory Metcalfe)
Greg warned that the difficulty in getting cannabis for pain on the NHS is pushing people into murky routes instead, adding: “There are lots of people I know who have to buy cannabis off the black market because they haven’t come to grips with the new legal system, since it became legally medically available in England in 2018.
“It’s really rubbish because it means they’re buying it from people who are selling other drugs as well. It shouldn’t be like that. You should be able to get it from a doctor and not a crack dealer.”
Gregory used to be addicted to a cocktail of Class As, including heroin, crack cocaine, methadone and “anything I could get my hands on” whilst going “cold turkey” between the various drugs. His past addictions are other reasons why he no longer wants to associate with dealers who sell Class A drugs.
Selling his art to buy cannabis
The 45-year-old, originally from Bradford, got cancer in 2012 which made him change his ways. He decided to change his life for the better after recovering and became an artist.
Examples of Greg’s art work, he goes by the pseudonymous Alkomist – his friends call him Alko
He goes by the pseudonymous Alkomist and makes bright vibrant street art and canvas designs with homages to famous artists’ work, like Banksy and Andy Warhol.
Greg, known to his friends as Alko, wants to sell his art in a bid to raise funds to buy more medical cannabis.
Greg headed into Leeds city center yesterday (February 8), armed with his products in an attempt to sell his canvases to shops, cafes, restaurants and galleries.
“Hopefully I can make a few extra pounds to help with the bank,” he said, adding that last time he did this he made about £150 in a couple of hours.
Joker Greg bumped into a police officer in Leeds city centre, who let him take a selfie with his hat on
(Image: Gregory Metcalfe)
Before heading out, Greg said: “This time I’m going to whack my cannabis three-piece suit on, take lots of my artwork on paper in a briefcase. Then I’ll go around galleries, introduce myself and hopefully sell some works. Then I’ll pop into some of the shops that might want to buy one or two pieces to whack on their walls.
“I’m sure people will come up to me when they see me with the suit on and ask me what I’m doing. I’m sure I’ll meet random people who I can sell to.”
But it didn’t go as well as he’d hoped. He only managed to sell two paintings on his trip out and was flustered carrying the two bags, which he puts down to his spinal injury.
Vandalizing a Banksy
The street artist has a keen sense of humour. Greg earned an infamous name for himself in the street art scene in 2014, when he spray painted over a real Banksy piece at Graffiti Jam in London.
The Banksy piece was a stencil of Mona Lisa. Greg spray painted a squiggly line across it when he was dared.
Greg spray painted a blue squiggly line across a Banksy stencil. Here artists are pictured restoring it.
(Image: Gregory Metcalfe)
Greg said: “Somebody dared me to spray on it as we were standing near a Banksy, I just said okay and took the spray can off the guy and sprayed blue line on it!”
“I got hated on by his fans and got death threats and got kicked out of an online graffiti group I was in SSOSVA (Secret Society of Super Villain Artists). I had to block about 50 people and make a new profile on Facebook.
“It’s not very professional but will always be a funny story.”
The Banksy stencil was restored moments after the vandalism, with festival goers going over the blue squiggly line with black paint.
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Who can receive medicinal cannabis?
Prescribing medical cannabis has been legal in the UK since 2018 for specific circumstances and is usually dispensed in oil or vape form.
Buying cannabis to smoke from a dealer is still illegal as it’s classified as a Class B drug.
Any sort of cannabis based medicine is ‘medical cannabis’.
Lots of cannabis products can be found online but the quality may vary.
Products like CBD oil or hemp oil can be bought online legally as food supplements but its health benefits are disputed.
CBD is a chemical substance found in cannabis that has medical benefits. It will not get you high because it does not contain THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the chemical in cannabis that makes you high.
Other cannabis containing products can be bought online from a private dispensing doctor for specific medical purposes, such as:
- Children and adults with rare forms of epilepsy
- Adults with nausea or vomiting caused by chemotherapy
- People with multiple sclerosis going through muscle stiffness and spasms
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On the NHS, you cannot get a prescription for medical cannabis via a GP, it must be done with a specialist hospital doctor. Then a prescription can only be given when it is believed to be in the patient’s best interests – this is expected to only apply to a very small number of people in England.
Do you think it should be easier for people to get medical cannabis prescribed by the NHS?
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source https://www.bisayanews.com/2022/02/10/leeds-man-struggling-to-pay-for-medical-cannabis-wants-it-free-on-the-nhs/
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