Britain could make millions from cannabis oil as ministers consider ditching EU laws

Britain could make millions from medicinal cannabis oil (CBD) as ministers consider ditching EU laws which require valuable hemp leaves to be destroyed.

Pre-Brexit EU rules prevent farmers from harvesting the leaves and flowers of hemp, which they are required to destroy even though they are the source of cannabidiol, the key component in a £300 billion global CBD oil market, according to a major report.

It means that a typical UK farmer will net £20,000 from the stalks and seeds, but have to burn the leaves and flowers that could be sold for £100,000 for use in the legal CBD oil business, according to the report backed by lawyers, Tory MPs, farmers and coordinated by the drug reform group Volteface.

Instead of using home-grown hemp oil, Britain is importing tens of millions of pounds of CBD products from other countries who are cashing in on the growing demand for medicinal cannabis fuelled by its success in treating childhood epilepsy.

One of the biggest producers is Switzerland, which has exploited its position outside the EEA/EU to harvest the leaves and flowers to produce the oil. Both the US and Australia have also introduced laws to boost hemp farming in the past four years.

Now it is understood EU ministers are considering similar changes to allow farmers to harvest the entire plant rather than the seeds and stalks which are used for hemp seed oil, textiles and building materials.

Environment minister Victoria Prentis said: "Defra will be commissioning a project on the potential use of under-utilised, underdeveloped or novel crops, including hemp. We are also considering the role of hemp in the bioeconomy and the opportunities this presents for UK farmers."

Despite the fact they are not psychoactive, the leaves and flowers of hemp are "controlled" under the Misuse of Drugs Act. For this reason, hemp leaves can only be cultivated and harvested under a Home Office controlled drugs licence, which makes it uneconomic.

The calls for a change in the law are backed by senior Tory MPs Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative leader, former Transport Minister George Freeman and former Justice Minister Crispin Blunt.

Mr Freeman said: "(We have) a situation where we are in danger of missing out on a potentially enormous global industry.

"If we can get the regulatory framework right… where there is huge demand for medical cannabis and medical cannabinoid products, then we could start to grow more of that and supply that product here in the UK.

"We could have an industrial hemp industry that would be good for British farming and agriculture, we would not rely on imports so much to develop these products and that would be good for the balance of trade."

Britain is one of the biggest consumer markets for CBD, at £300 million, and it is projected to increase to £1 billion by 2025 which campaigners say will be served by imports without a change in the rules.

The report said Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, could easily amend the current guidance without the need for primary or secondary legislation simply by writing to her drug advisers to request a change.

Farmer Fred Fellowes, the heir to the title Baron de Ramsey, is campaigning to be the first producer of CBD oil in the UK, arguing that it is also one of the "greenest" crops.

"In a time that farmers are being told that carbon emissions and soil health are paramount it is perverse that the one crop that excels in correcting both of these is still criminalised by our Government," he said.

"Every month and every year this situation continues we are losing the chance of having any position in this emerging, global industry and with that the jobs and benefit to the rural economy and environment that would result."