Holland & Barrett have started selling medical cannabis oil and the stock is contributing to sales almost doubling in the UK in the past year.
The high street health supplements store became the first to stock cannabis oil four weeks ago, introducing the paying public to cannabidiol (CBD) oil.
Dutch firm Jacob Hooy’s CBD+Oil has proved so popular, with sales up 37 per cent since it hit Holland & Barrett shelves, the chain is adding four more cannabis oil products next month.
CBD oil does not produce a high, as it has less than 0.2% of the psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol, so it’s legal in the UK.
Now, according to the Cannabis Trades Association UK, the number of cannabidiol consumers has rocketed over the past 12 months – there are now 250,000 documented users in Britain, compared to 125,000 a year ago.
CBD oil is used to ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, joint pain, anxiety and depression, along with a range of other conditions.
It’s made by pressing hemp leaves and flowers, costs £19.99 for a 10ml bottle and is administered by users putting drops under their tongue.
Holland & Barrett said:
We’ve been surprised at the success and popularity of CBD oil since its launch.
We are constantly looking to bring new and innovative products to market that help our customers.
It’s great to see in this instance we can help with the demand.
Meanwhile, the evidence showing cannabis oil can alleviate the painful side effects of ailments such as cancer and epilepsy is stacking up.
Bud Buddies cannabis consultant Jeff Ditchfield told UNILAD:
It’s obvious cannabinoids do have medicinal properties and medicinal benefits, as is being found out and practiced in many parts of the world, just not here, in the UK.
We’re so backward here. In Colorado, you can even get a joint just for recreational use. Here in the UK we’re so backward and we’re so conservative.
Yet anecdotal evidence has shown time and time again how CDB oil, in the case of cancer patients, could be used as a treatment working in conjunction with chemotherapy to remedy the disease.
One such so-called miraculous story is that of Deryn Blackwell, from Norfolk, who suffered with Langerhans cell sarcoma, a one in a billion manifestation of the disease.
You can watch his story below:
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Ditchfield lamented social taboos of potentially life-saving treatments for kids like Deryn:
We have a Prime Minister who’s the daughter of a vicar and when she was at the Home Office, she made her views on Cannabis very well know.
Let’s look at protecting the citizens in the country who are dying.
Don’t take my word for it. I’m following the science. If the viewer follows the science logically, they’ll come to the same conclusion as me.
The official line from the UK government is ‘cannabis is a very harmful, very dangerous drug that can cause huge mental health problems and addiction’ and it ‘has no medicinal benefits in herbal form’.
A 2013 survey of almost 1,500 doctors from 72 different countries revealed 76 per cent of them approve the use of medical marijuana.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.