FOI 003100 CanCard

Request Number: 003100/22
Date of Decision: 26 August 2022
Subject Area: Miscellaneous
Decision: Disclosed

Request

1.    Does your force acknowledge/endorse either the CanCard or MedCanID schemes?

2.    Does your force accept the scheme's respective membership cards / passes as evidence for possession of medical cannabis?

3.    If so, under what grounds are either accepted?

4.    The schemes claim they have agreements with "the police". Can you confirm if any agreements are in place?

5.    If so, what are these agreements?

6.    Both schemes claim to be training police officers in how to deal with or respond to holders of their respective membership cards / passes. What training has been given to officers?

Reply

1.    Lincolnshire Police acknowledge the CanCard Scheme, but no information is held in respect of official “endorsement” of the scheme.

2.    The production of a CanCard would not automatically mean an individual has the right to carry cannabis. It would only reveal to officers that the individual in question should be accessing medication – crucially it does not give the user the right to carry illicit drugs/illegally procure cannabis. If shown, the card would only be considered as part of an officers normal decision-making process depending on the circumstances.

3.    No information held

4.    No information held

5.    No information held

6.    National Guidance

 

Please also be aware that Police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide crime statistics to government bodies and the recording criteria is set nationally. However, the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the crime data. It should be noted that for these reasons this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other response you may receive.

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Lincolnshire Police in complying with their statutory duty under sections 1 and 11 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the enclosed information will not breach the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. However, the rights of the copyright owner of the enclosed information will continue to be protected by law. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of the attached information should be addressed to The Force Solicitor, Lincolnshire Police, PO Box 999, Lincoln LN5 7PH