Last week I attended an event whereby a lady asked me why we didn’t grow our own hemp crops for Green Goddess CBD extract. I explained to her that no UK seller was permitted to grow hemp and extract the CBD. The process was licensed and nobody in the UK had that piece of paperwork. The lady then told me she had seen hemp crops in Totnes so I must be wrong.  

Herein lies even more confusion around the cannabis plant family. There are indeed hemp growers in the UK.  British Sugar has been cultivating cannabis for G W Pharmaceuticals since 2016. This is exported for use in ‘medical marijuana’ product. Other UK farmers can grow hemp under license for use in particular products. Hemp is such a versatile crop that it can be used in many industries from health care to building houses to fabrics used for the clothes you put on your back.     

The problem is that whilst UK farmers can grow the crop under license and use the hemp stalks and seeds they cannot use the buds of the plant to extract the precious CBD oil. Never has this been represented so starkly than in last night’s episode of Country file. We saw the presenter talking to Charlotte Smith who was part of a hemp growing cooperative who had been extracting CBD from their crop.  Despite notifying the Home Office and staying in close contact, the co-operative’s license was revoked and they were forced to destroy the many acres of crop.

Another Countryfile guest, Farmer George Thomas explained to the presenter the huge financial benefit Hemp production would generate for British Farmers. There is no doubt that CBD has made hemp a cash crop yet not for our home grown it seems.

So this is the short of it.

We have to buy our CBD extract from plants grown outside of the UK and are permitted to sell that extract inside the UK. In the meantime, UK farmers can obtain a license to grow hemp in the UK but not process the buds for CBD oil extraction which would give a much needed boost to the agricultural economy and job creation.

Well done to Countryfile for highlighting the issue on a Sunday evening. Here’s hoping we can cultivate our own lovely home grown CBD hemp crops in the near future.

Did you know:

• Hemp is one of the oldest food crops in our diet.
• It is also one of the oldest fabrics used by human beings.
• Hemp can be grown with no agricultural pesticides.
• This amazing plant restores soil health and was used to clean up the nuclear spill in Chernobyl.
• One hectare of industrial hemp can absorb 15 tonnes of CO2, more than any other commercial crop.
• Hemp can be used in an impressive number of commercial sectors including food supplements, biomass fuel, automotive panels, paper, textiles, food and beverages.  

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