Dr Leon Barron - “GPs should be at the forefront of medical cannabis prescribing”

In today’s episode Hannah and Mike are joined by Dr Leon Barron, a GP and founding member of the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society, to discuss the role of cannabis-based medicines in mainstream healthcare.

Dr Barron is a General Practitioner graduating from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. He has a varied portfolio of clinical roles under his belt, including both NHS and private practice and has an undergraduate MBBS teaching role at University College London. 

Since the rescheduling of medical cannabis in 2018, Dr Barron has recognised the potential for cannabis-based medicines to sit within mainstream medicine— while also acknowledging the unique challenges and hurdles that need to be overcome to achieve this. 

For the past few years, he has focused his efforts on educating clinicians as he believes this is the key to reducing stigma and helping to improve wider patient access to these medicines.

Dr Barron is one of the founding members and former Chair of The Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society from 2022 to 2024, which has now grown to over 400 members. He is also a member of the Drug Science Medical Cannabis Working Group and the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Medical Cannabis, helping to shape and influence wider policies around access to CBPMs within the UK. In addition to these roles, he is chief medical officer for Grow Lab Organics.

In this episode, Dr Barron shares what brought him to medical cannabis and how he thinks things have changed since it was legalised in the UK.

“I’ve seen a shift in attitudes among my colleagues over the last four to six years,” he says. "I don’t know many doctors anymore who are particularly strongly against it.”

He also discusses why he is a firm believer that GPs should be at the forefront of prescribing— and why they are, in fact, crucial to the growth of the sector.

“If you look at the data that comes through and the conditions its prescribed for… GPs are well versed to prescribe this," Dr Barron adds. “The reality is, unless GPs can initiate prescriptions, we’re unlikely to see a big uptake in prescribers in the sector.”

Hear more from Hannah and Mike’s interview with Dr Barron below or via your usual podcast app.

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