Pharmacy has always been about more than medicines.
It is about knowledge, accessibility, professional judgement and ultimately, the relationship between healthcare professionals and the patients they serve.
As the healthcare landscape evolves, so too does the role of the pharmacist. Emerging areas of medicine create new opportunities for pharmacists to apply their existing expertise while developing new knowledge and capabilities.
The UK medical cannabis sector is one such area.
At Curaleaf Laboratories, our relationship with pharmacy has been developing for many years. Through education, engagement, industry events and practical initiatives, we have worked alongside pharmacists and community pharmacies across the UK to help build understanding of medical cannabis and its place within the wider healthcare system.
Our approach has evolved with the sector.
From face-to-face conversations in pharmacies and at major industry events, to the launch of a dedicated medical cannabis Learning Room with Chemist + Druggist, the development of the Curaleaf Dispensaries scheme and, most recently, the launch of Curaleaf Education, our commitment has remained consistent:
to equip pharmacy professionals with the knowledge, resources and confidence to engage with the evolving medical cannabis landscape.
Recognising the role of pharmacists in a changing healthcare landscape
Pharmacists are among the most accessible and trusted healthcare professionals in the UK.
Their expertise spans medicines optimisation, pharmaceutical science, patient care, safety, formulation and the practical realities of supplying medicines. Community pharmacists, in particular, play a unique role within their local communities, often providing advice and support without the need for an appointment.
That position makes pharmacy an important part of the conversation around emerging areas of healthcare.
Medical cannabis is a specialist and evolving field. Understanding cannabinoids, formulations, routes of administration, pharmaceutical quality, regulation and the developing evidence base requires dedicated learning.
For pharmacists, this isn’t about replacing existing expertise. It is about building on a strong pharmaceutical foundation and applying it to a relatively new area of medicine.
That is why professional education has been central to our work with pharmacy for so many years.
A relationship built through continuous engagement
Our work with pharmacists has never been limited to a single educational initiative.
We have spent years engaging directly with pharmacy professionals, both within their own pharmacies and through the events that bring the profession together.
Our teams have connected with pharmacists and pharmacy teams at major annual events including The Pharmacy Show, Community Pharmacy & General Practice Conference, dedicated pharmacy trade events across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as being Headline Sponsor for Cannabis Health Symposium for two successive years.
These interactions have been invaluable.
They provide an opportunity to listen to the questions pharmacists are asking, understand the areas where additional knowledge is needed and have open conversations about the realities of medical cannabis within the UK healthcare system.
For us, education works best when it is a dialogue.
The questions we hear from pharmacists in practice help inform how we communicate, the resources we develop and the opportunities we create for continued professional development.
The Curaleaf Learning Room: creating a dedicated space for pharmacy education
A significant milestone in this journey came in November 2023, when Curaleaf Laboratories partnered with Chemist + Druggist to launch the Curaleaf Learning Room.
The initiative created a dedicated educational environment for pharmacy professionals to explore medical cannabis and develop their understanding of this emerging area.
The launch reflected a fundamental principle behind our approach: if medical cannabis is to become better understood within healthcare, pharmacists need access to professional, relevant and accessible education.
The Learning Room provided another way for pharmacy professionals to engage with the subject, complementing the face-to-face conversations taking place across the sector.
It was an important step in our continuing relationship with pharmacy, but not the last.
From education to practical participation: Curaleaf Dispensaries
Education is an essential foundation, but knowledge becomes particularly valuable when healthcare professionals can understand how it translates into practice.
That principle has also shaped the development of Curaleaf Dispensaries.
Today, more than 900 community pharmacies are taking part in the Curaleaf Dispensaries scheme, creating a significant network of pharmacies engaged with the medical cannabis pathway.
The scheme is designed to help participating pharmacies identify patients who may potentially meet the initial criteria for consideration of medical cannabis and refer them to the appropriate specialist clinical service for assessment.
Importantly, the pharmacy does not make the clinical decision about whether medical cannabis is appropriate.
Where a patient is assessed by the relevant specialist clinician and receives a private prescription, the medication can then be dispensed through the appropriate participating pharmacy.
This creates a connection between community pharmacy and specialist medical cannabis care, while allowing pharmacists to use their existing medicines expertise within a new area of practice.
For patients who receive a prescription, the model can also provide access to medication through a pharmacy within their local community.
For pharmacy professionals, it provides an opportunity to become more familiar with medical cannabis as part of the wider medicines landscape.
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Building capability across the pharmacy profession
The scale of engagement with Curaleaf Dispensaries demonstrates the appetite within community pharmacy to understand the sector and explore how it can fit within professional practice.
But participation also brings responsibility.
As with any specialist area of medicines, pharmacists need access to appropriate information and ongoing education.
This is particularly important in medical cannabis, where the science, clinical evidence, products and regulatory environment continue to develop.
That is why our approach has increasingly moved towards continuous professional education, rather than relying solely on individual events or one-off learning opportunities.
Curaleaf Education: taking learning further
The recent launch of Curaleaf Education represents the next stage in that evolution.
Designed specifically to support healthcare professionals, Curaleaf Education provides access to ongoing, CPD-accredited learning around medical cannabis.
The platform gives professionals the opportunity to learn at their own pace and continue developing their knowledge over time, from foundational cannabinoid science and the endocannabinoid system through to product considerations, prescribing, clinical management, safety and patient support.
For pharmacists, this creates an opportunity to make medical cannabis education part of an ongoing professional development journey.
And that distinction matters.
The medical cannabis sector is not static. As research develops, clinical understanding evolves and the regulatory and pharmaceutical landscape changes, healthcare professionals need opportunities to keep their knowledge current.
Continuous education is therefore not an optional extra. It is an important part of building a knowledgeable and responsible sector.
From curiosity to confidence
One of the recurring themes in our conversations with pharmacists over the years has been the importance of confidence.
Not confidence based simply on exposure to the subject, but confidence that comes from understanding.
Understanding the science.
Understanding the products.
Understanding pharmaceutical quality.
Understanding the regulatory environment.
Understanding where medical cannabis sits within the wider healthcare system.
And understanding where the pharmacist’s existing skills and professional responsibilities fit within that landscape.
Our role is not to tell pharmacists what their role in medical cannabis should be.
It is to provide opportunities for them to learn, ask questions and make informed professional decisions.
That is why our investment in pharmacy has taken different forms over the years.
Sometimes it is a conversation with a pharmacist in their own pharmacy.
Sometimes it is a discussion at The Pharmacy Show.
Sometimes it is an educational resource developed with Chemist + Druggist.
Sometimes it is supporting a community pharmacy through the Curaleaf Dispensaries network.
And increasingly, it is providing continuous CPD-accredited education through Curaleaf Education.
Different channels, but one consistent objective:
to help pharmacy professionals develop the knowledge they need to engage confidently with medical cannabis.
Why pharmacy matters to the future of medical cannabis
The future development of the UK medical cannabis sector will require collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem.
Clinicians, pharmacists, manufacturers, researchers, regulators and other healthcare professionals all have different expertise to bring to the conversation.
Pharmacy has a particularly important role because pharmacists sit at the intersection of medicines, patients and pharmaceutical practice.
They understand medicines.
They understand quality and safe supply.
They understand formulation and administration.
They understand patient questions.
And community pharmacists understand the importance of accessible, local healthcare.
As medical cannabis becomes increasingly established within the UK’s healthcare landscape, developing this professional knowledge base will be increasingly important.
For Curaleaf Laboratories, supporting that development is not a new ambition. It is a continuation of work we have been doing with pharmacists for many years.
Looking ahead
World Pharmacists Day provides an opportunity to recognise the contribution pharmacists make to healthcare every day.
It is also an opportunity to look forward.
The pharmacy profession will continue to evolve as new medicines, technologies and therapeutic areas emerge. The professionals best placed to navigate that change will be those who have access to the knowledge and education needed to understand it.
At Curaleaf Laboratories, we are proud of the relationships we have built with pharmacy professionals across the UK.
From years of direct engagement in pharmacies and at major industry events, to the November 2023 launch of the Curaleaf Learning Room, the development of a Curaleaf Dispensaries network now involving more than 900 pharmacies and the launch of Curaleaf Education, our investment in pharmacy continues to grow.
Because we believe the development of the medical cannabis sector should be matched by the development of the people working within it.
And because empowering pharmacists with knowledge doesn’t just benefit individual professionals.
It helps build a more informed, connected and confident healthcare ecosystem for the future.
Celebrating pharmacists this World Pharmacists Day
This World Pharmacists Day, we celebrate the pharmacists who continue to learn, adapt and contribute to the changing face of healthcare.
We thank those who have taken the time to speak with our teams, attend our educational sessions, visit us at industry events, participate in Curaleaf Dispensaries and engage with our learning resources.
And we look forward to continuing that conversation.
Happy World Pharmacists Day from everyone at Curaleaf Laboratories.
Together, we’re building knowledge for the future of medical cannabis.
