Mr Thomas predicted that the UK would liberalise its laws to allow more medical cannabis products “within 18 months”, following the path set by countries including Israel, Canada, Germany and more than half of US states.
Medical cannabis products are used around the world to treat a number of ailments, including for pain relief, anxiety and to reduce seizures in epilepsy.
A limited number of medicines containing cannabidiol, a derivative of cannabis more commonly known as CBD, have been approved for use in the UK for conditions such as easing loss of muscle control in people with multiple sclerosis.
But a blanket ban on products containing the psychoactive part of cannabis – THC – has prevented a wider range coming to market.
Analysts predict cannabis sales will overtake beer in California next year following its legalisation for recreational as well as medicinal use at the start of this year, highlighting the product’s explosive growth in places that have liberalised their drug laws.
Britain is already home to one of the world’s largest medical cannabis companies. GW Pharma is listed on New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange, with a market valuation of $3.1bn (£2.2bn), but is based in the UK and grows cannabis plants in greenhouses covering the area of 23 football pitches in Norfolk.
To read more visit: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/03/29/uks-first-medical-cannabis-investor-floats-london/
