“When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself.” – Bob Marley For a community that constantly promotes peace, acceptance, healing and unity, I often find myself asking one simple question: Why do we spend so much time attacking each other? Over the last few years I’ve watched the UK cannabis community grow at an incredible rate. More patients are speaking publicly. More women are entering the industry. More businesses are launching. More educational conversations are happening. On the surface, that’s exactly what we’ve all been fighting for.Yet beneath that growth sits something much uglier. •Cliques. •Private group chats. •Whisper campaigns. •Narrative control. •Character assassinations. And a culture where some people seem more interested in policing other members of the community than actually helping it grow The Rise of the Cannabis Clique Every community has friendship groups. That’s normal.The problem starts when friendship groups become gatekeepers. When a small number of people begin deciding who is accepted, who is rejected, who gets promoted, who gets ignored, who is allowed to speak, and who should be pushed out.Suddenly it stops being a community.It becomes a popularity contest. I’ve watched women publicly support each other in posts while privately tearing each other apart behind closed doors. I’ve watched group chats become echo chambers where gossip spreads faster than facts. I’ve watched people who have never met someone form strong opinions based entirely on what they’ve been told by others.Most worrying of all, I’ve watched these cliques convince themselves that they speak for the wider community.They don’t. •No single group represents the UK cannabis community. •No single influencer represents the UK cannabis community. •No single business represents the UK cannabis community. •No private group chat gets to decide who belongs in it!! Mental Health Isn’t Community Entertainment One of the most concerning trends I’ve witnessed is how mental health gets weaponised during disagreements. The cannabis community regularly talks about mental health awareness.We share posts about anxiety.We discuss PTSD.We discuss depression.We discuss trauma.We talk about compassion, Until someone becomes inconvenient then suddenly, the language changes.Someone isn’t struggling. They’re “crazy.” They’re “unstable.” They’re “the problem.” Their mental health becomes a talking point rather than something deserving of understanding. I’ve experienced this firsthand. During one of the most difficult periods of my life, while navigating serious physical health issues alongside complex trauma, I found myself pulled into situations that escalated far beyond what they ever should have.Arguments appeared out of nowhere.People I had never spoken to suddenly had opinions.Strangers felt comfortable messaging me to discuss my mental health. Others felt comfortable discussing it publicly and what shocked me most wasn’t the criticism itself.It was how quickly people forgot their own mental health advocacy when there was drama to consume. Mental health isn’t a weapon. Mental health isn’t gossip. Mental health isn’t entertainment. If we genuinely care about wellbeing, that care should not disappear the moment someone is struggling publicly. The Public Perception Problem Here’s what many people fail to realise: these arguments don’t just affect the people directly involved. Every public disagreement, every call-out post, every indirect status and every round of community drama is being watched by far more people than we think. Potential patients see it. Potential customers see it. Investors see it. Journalists see it. Politicians see it. Medical professionals see it. Most importantly, the general public sees it. Imagine being someone who is genuinely curious about cannabis reform. Perhaps you’re a patient considering medical cannabis for the first time, or a healthcare professional looking to better understand the plant and the people who use it. You begin exploring the community online, hoping to find education, support and meaningful discussion. Instead, you’re met with arguments between women, businesses publicly falling out, influencers attacking each other, screenshots being shared, rumours spreading and endless drama dominating the conversation. It’s difficult to ask society to take us seriously when some of the loudest voices within the community are engaged in behaviour that resembles playground politics. We are fighting for legitimacy, recognition and acceptance, yet too often we behave in ways that actively undermine those goals. The Modelling Debate That Makes No Sense Another issue that perfectly highlights our tendency to divide ourselves is the ongoing debate surrounding women who model within the cannabis space. One group criticises women who use platforms such as OnlyFans. Another criticises glamour models. Then fetish models criticise content creators, content creators criticise influencers, influencers criticise models, and the cycle continues. The arguments often become less about values and more about who believes they occupy the morally superior position. The reality, however, is far less complicated. When you step back and look objectively, many of these women are producing content for the exact same audience. They’re using the same social media platforms, marketing to the same consumers, navigating the same restrictions and censorship, and facing many of the same judgements from wider society. So why are we fighting each other? What is actually gained by creating further divisions within an already stigmatised community?In most cases, the answer is nothing. The only outcome is more resentment, more hostility and more stigma. Instead of challenging outdated perceptions of cannabis users, we end up reinforcing them through our own behaviour. Cannabis Was Never About This George Washington once encouraged the cultivation of hemp, recognising its value and importance. Carl Sagan famously described the criminalisation of cannabis as outrageous. Bob Marley spoke of cannabis as a force for healing and unity. While these figures came from different backgrounds and different eras, their words reflected a common theme: connection, community and freedom of thought. At its heart, cannabis culture was never supposed to be about gatekeeping, social hierarchies or controlling who belongs. It wasn’t about building cliques, silencing opposing viewpoints or bullying people into submission. It was about bringing people together, encouraging conversation and challenging harmful systems that excluded others. Somewhere along the way, parts of the community seem to have forgotten that. We Need To Grow Up The truth is uncomfortable, but it needs to be said. The cannabis community is not being held back solely by politicians, regulators or outdated legislation. In many cases, we are holding ourselves back. Ego, gossip, clique culture, performative activism and public feuds consume far too much of our collective energy. Instead of focusing on education, patient advocacy, business growth and meaningful reform, we often find ourselves distracted by conflicts that achieve nothing. The UK cannabis movement is far bigger than any individual influencer, any single business or any friendship group. If we genuinely want progress, then we need to start acting like a movement rather than a collection of competing social circles. My Hope For The Future I don’t want a community where everyone agrees. That would be unrealistic and, frankly, unhealthy. Disagreements are normal. Debate is healthy. Different perspectives are essential if any movement is going to evolve and grow. What isn’t healthy is the culture of personal attacks, exclusion and public humiliation that has become normalised in some corners of the community. Too often, people are judged not by their actions, but by which group they belong to or which side of a disagreement they’ve been placed on. Imagine what we could achieve if we spent half as much energy supporting one another as we currently spend discussing one another. Imagine if collaboration became more important than competition, if understanding replaced assumptions and if education took centre stage instead of drama. Cannabis has helped countless people find peace, healing and connection. Perhaps it’s time the community reflected those values too. Because if we’re serious about ending stigma, we must first stop creating it for each other.