About PLEA
PLEA is proud to be a volunteer-led non-profit community interest company, established to challenge the inequalities in access to cannabis-based medicinal products in the UK.
Working to ensure that lived experience is valued, and patient voices are heard, amplified and centred as medicinal cannabis access develops, our Patient Working Group shapes all that we do.
Being championed by an armoury of clinicians, academics, researchers and other experts, our Advisory Board is pivotal in our development as a patient-led organisation.
+ Our Story
Founded by a team of experienced patient advocates, PLEA was established to challenge the inequalities in access to cannabis-based medicinal products in the UK.
Despite a 2018 schedule change allowing prescribing of medical cannabis, patients are still faced with multiple barriers, including misinformation, stigma, and financial constraints, preventing access to potentially life-changing medicine.
With a focus on harm reduction, PLEA works to engage patients, doctors and researchers to remove these barriers to access and accelerate the integration of cannabis medicines within mainstream healthcare.
+ Our Vision
For all UK patients to have access to cannabis-based medicinal products integrated within mainstream healthcare.
+ Our Mission
PLEA advocates for quality of life with medicinal cannabis, enabling patients to access their medicine free from the harms of stigmatisation, geographical inconsistencies and financial barriers. We support research into the safety and efficacy of cannabis-based medicinal products, to enable evidence-based prescription for all.
+ Our Purpose
Patients are in need of help to navigate our complex health systems.
Clinicians wish to learn from patient experiences so they can understand the many conditions for which CBMPs improve quality of life.
Research is needed to evidence the efficacy and safety of medicinal cannabis.
PLEA collaborates with patients, clinicians and researchers as one community, sharing knowledge and experiences in order to advance access to CBMPs.
+ Our Objectives
Providing a safe, virtual space offering peer-to-peer support to educate, empower and connect patients
Supporting patients to navigate healthcare systems in order to obtain a medicinal cannabis prescription
Collating patient lived-experiences through our surveys on patient-reported outcomes
Facilitating a Patient Working Group to collaborate with relevant external stakeholders
Establishing an Advisory Board of specialists to ensure information provided to our patient community is accurate
Consulting with providers to highlight the need for a full range of CBMPs to meet individualised care standards
Collaborating on and supporting research projects to improve the understanding and evidence base for prescribing
Attending stakeholder educational events, boards and policy-making panels to share patient testimonies, destigmatising medicinal cannabis
+ Our Values
PLEA work for the benefit of patients, adhering to the highest ethical standards and aligning our work with our core values:
Compassion; listening, understanding, and engaging, kindness is shown to all without judgement
Inclusivity; championing every patient, respectful of choices, views or decisions
Transparency; open and honest, we build trust with our patient community
Independence; unbiased, we use the latest evidence to remain impartial and free from financial, commercial and political influence
Integrity; our moral actions will always match our ethics, no matter the circumstance
Collaboration; embracing a strong team culture, we engage with stakeholders to ensure stakeholder goals are aligned to the beneficence of patients
As a non-profit organisation, PLEA will only invest in projects that address accelerating access to prescribed CBMPs. We shall advocate for the patient community whilst remaining impartial and are not incentivised, influenced or motivated by financial gain. Our resources are offered to patients free of charge.