After a hard-fought victory to legalise medical cannabis in the UK, why is it still so hard to access?
The Audio Long Read
The Guardian
4.2 • 2.5K Ratings
🗓️ 1 June 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is The Guardian. |
| 0:08.8 | This article contains some swearing. |
| 0:12.7 | Welcome to The Guardian Long Read, |
| 0:14.7 | showcasing the best long-form journalism |
| 0:16.8 | covering culture, politics and new thinking. |
| 0:19.4 | For the text version of this and all our long reads, |
| 0:21.8 | go to the Guardian.com forward slash long read. |
| 0:28.3 | After a hard-forward victory to legalise medical cannabis in the UK, |
| 0:32.7 | why is it still so hard to access? |
| 0:35.9 | Written and read by Kojo Karam. |
| 0:44.3 | In the summer of 2012, Britain was in a festive mood. |
| 0:49.2 | It was the year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics, |
| 0:53.7 | and the country was celebrating. |
| 0:57.0 | But for former hairdresser Hannah Deacon and her young family in Warwickshire, it was a summer |
| 1:03.0 | of ambulances, hospital wards and doctors rushing in and out of emergency rooms. |
| 1:19.6 | Eight months earlier, Deacon had given birth to a healthy baby boy named Alfie. The early months of his life had been challenging for her and her partner Drew, |
| 1:23.6 | as they are for any first-time parents. |
| 1:26.6 | But by the summer, Alfie was sleeping and |
| 1:29.6 | feeding well, and it felt like the family was settling into a new rhythm. However, one night, |
| 1:37.3 | the couple woke up to find their baby's little body gripped by a paralysing seizure. The family lived in the market town of Kenilworth. |
| 1:48.0 | They immediately rushed Alfie to their local hospital in Warwick, but it lacked an intensive |
| 1:53.3 | care unit and the staff had no experience of these types of seizures. Alfi's health worsened by the hour. At first, the doctors |
... |
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