A CANNABIS club in Basingstoke is planning to organise a peaceful protest event in Basingstoke to advocate for medical and recreational cannabis access in the UK.

Basingstoke Cannabis Club will hold the protest at the Lime Pits in Basingstoke on Sunday, May 28.

The club, founded in 2013, has been campaigning for easy medical cannabis access and advocating that “there are no dangers behind its use”.

In 2018, medical cannabis became legal in the UK, meaning people with a prescription can legally use cannabis flowers.

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However, Ashley Bottiglieri, the club founder, said not enough people in the UK are aware that it is available on prescription.

“And obviously, that comes with a great deal of stigma that we're trying to help change,” Ashley said.

“We'd like to support people in obtaining their prescriptions. With this protest, we want to make sure that, they've got the information they need, and they can do it in the quickest and easiest manner.”

The club is also aiming to set up a social club in Basingstoke so that members can come to socialise and those with prescriptions can vape their medicine safely around like-minded people.

Ashley, a medical cannabis user, also shared his story about how he got involved in the movement to become an activist for medical cannabis.

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He said: "There was a time when I was growing and supplying myself with medical cannabis because I couldn't access it. And I had the police at my door; they took my medicine, and I just sort of said, you know, this isn't right.

“I contacted an organisation called the Hampshire Cannabis Club. And they just sort of helped me get involved in the movement of becoming an activist for medical cannabis.”

Ashley said that the club is expecting to see around 500-700 people at the protest.

He emphasised that the protest is peaceful. The club has organised a few peaceful protests in the past at the same location, and Ashley said they have never had any trouble with the police or anyone else.