Groundbreaking research into the outdated laws and regulations currently hindering the production of 100K jobs and £2bn worth of revenue in medical cannabis

In November 2018, the government announced that medical cannabis could be prescribed for patients by specialist doctors, but so far just three NHS prescriptions and 6,000 private prescriptions have been issued. Despite being one of the largest exporters of medical cannabis in the world, currently, the UK imports 100% of its cannabis medicine and the majority of its CBD products, due to the contradictory legislation on medical cannabis, and the convoluted licencing and regulatory processes required for businesses entering the space.

Our cannabis division supported Maple Tree Consultants and Mackrell Solicitors in drafting a 40-page discussion paper, revealing the outdated laws and regulations currently hindering the UK’s CBD and medicinal cannabis industry and calling on the Government to review its restrictive approach to the UK cannabis industry. We led on the research element of the paper and were tasked with drafting up the whitepaper in full.

The paper, which was supported by sixteen industry heavyweights including Prohibition Partners and the Primary Care Cannabis Network, calculated that the industry could be worth billions of pounds and create over 100,000 jobs if the government reformed its legal policies. Its findings referred to distinct areas of the cannabis industry, including CBD, hemp and medical cannabis.

On the day of the paper’s launch, We secured an exclusive feature in the Financial Times, featuring the whitepaper’s key findings and an interview from Mike Barnes, Founder of Maple Tree Consultants.  The story was followed by articles across the national, business, investor and cannabis press including the Telegraph, Benzinga and Proactive Investor during a two week press campaign.

Please use this link to access the full report.

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