Cannabis Wealth joined Tenacious Labs and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for CBD Products on a tour of Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery in Scotland to find out how cannabis could create a thriving economic sector, and what cannabis tourism could look like in the UK.
As the UK fleshes out its approach to cannabis, the UK’s APPG for CBD is encouraging the government to establish a solid industry sooner rather than later. The group is highlighting that a fully established cannabis industry in the UK could create thousands of jobs and millions for the UK economy as it attempts to bounce back from the economic harms of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nicholas Morland, CEO of Tenacious Labs and Chair of the Secretariat to APPG for CBD, has penned a manifesto, highlighting that the global turnover of the Scotch industry is £69bn as of 2021, and that the UK’s share of this is £5.5bn. It notes that the industry supports around 42,000 permanent high-value jobs, “the vast majority in rural areas and often employing people who prefer not to move away from hometowns or continue into higher education.”
Read more: UK Government must seize cannabis opportunity, says parliamentary group
The APPG for CBD has highlighted that, much like the Scotch Whisky industry, the UK could benefit from a home-grown cannabis industry that prides itself on premium products.
Morland states in his manifesto: “The UK is lucky to be in a peculiarly strong position to become the global powerhouse if the political will is there to provide the right framework to introduce clear, balanced, inclusive processes for legislation and regulation regarding updating POCA [Proceeds of Crime Act], consumer protection, quality standards, appropriate definitions and limits, research and development, banking, agriculture, insurance, London Stock Exchange listings and more.”
Cannabis tourism in the UK
The Scotch Whisky Association highlights that 2019 saw 2.2 million visits to Scotch Whisky distilleries, making the industry the third most popular tourist attraction in Scotland. The combination of tours, visitor centres and cafes draws tourists from around the UK and the world, spending an average of £38 per head, and the Association says that many distilleries believe that Brexit has given tourism a boost.
The APPG for CBD says that cannabis has higher economic potential than the Scotch Whisky industry, and that cannabis tourism could similarly reflect its set up. Tours of production sites with visitor centres, cafes and gift shops would generate a large amount of revenue as well as long-term careers as with the Scotch Whisky industry, that can see employees remain in the sector for up to 20 years.
Marika Graham-Woods, executive director of the Cannabis Trades Association and member of the APPG, commented: “By visiting Dewars, we were given the chance to see things from a different perspective and how it might apply to the cannabis industry. This opportunity could outweigh the risks following any overhaul of the outdated Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and related licensing of hemp growing.
“The legitimate industrial hemp sector is currently impeded by draconian, convoluted, and unsubstantiated laws which are not fit for purpose in today’s society. The history of cannabis and hemp in the UK spans beyond the length of its prohibition.
“By using proven marketing models such as the Scotch whisky and associated distilleries, the development of a regulated cannabis tourism industry would provide a further boost to the British economy.
“Visitor centres, tours, associated shops and in future, dispensaries, at these sites could demonstrate the benefits of cannabis – industrially, environmentally, as a food, and as a medicine are widely known. This could form a part of the historic and educational aspect of visits, increasing awareness to the wider general public, not just to proponents and patients.
“With the high costs involved in production of premium products, this has great potential to set the British Isles as the forerunner of a worldwide cannabis tourism market.”
However, tourism is not the only benefit to such sites. Currently, Jersey has been steaming ahead with establishing cannabis as a budding industry on the island. It recently made changes to its Proceeds of Crime law which will now enable companies to do business in cannabis as long as it is legal in the country where it is taking place. The island has also established a new Cannabis Advisory Board which is working to advise and inform the government.
Charlie Gallichan of the Jersey Farmers Union (also of Trinity Craft), who joined the tour, highlighted that Jersey wants to add cannabis to the island’s cash crops, such as its famous agricultural products – milk and potatoes. Hemp farms could provide a valuable crop for farmers when other crops fail, and a number of farmers in Scotland are already beginning to explore the possibility of adding hemp to their repertoire.
Getting regulation right
In order for the industry to mature and prosper, regulation has to be right, says the APPG.
In a letter to George Freeman MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, MP Crispin Blunt, co-chair of the APPG for CBD, alongside Baroness Manzoor, states that the industry is “crying out for clear and practical regulation.”
Blunt stated: “Getting CBD product regulation right is an opportunity to create thousands of jobs, draw in millions of pounds of investment and build on our international bioscience reputation, whilst simultaneously creating a safe consumer market which enables consumer choice.”
On the Dewar’s tour, Adrian Clarke, chief commercial officer at Tenacious Labs, highlights that regulations, such as those similar to units on alcohol products, should be introduced in order to move forward with regulation and bolster consumer safety.
Clarke commented: “Cannabis is going through the same process as post-prohibition alcohol. We already have the template for balancing legitimate consumer choice within the parameters set by essential consumer protection.
“Given the UK has an immediate opportunity to set the inevitable new standards, we also have the opportunity to define the premium space. The political decision is between prohibition and economic benefits, and then all the relevant parties, including the medical world, can finally be allowed to provide the right parameters.
“The result being that consumers will reliably be able to regulate their own consumption and will become increasingly discerning over time – challenging us to come up with ever more premium quality products.”
This vision for cannabis tourism in the UK could manifest at a rapid rate if the correct regulations are implemented. A number of countries in Europe are beginning to take a progressive approach to cannabis regulation, and whilst the UK is currently leading the pack in the regulation of CBD products, current regulatory processes such as Novel Foods applications are, in some industry members’ views, potentially quashing the industry before it can flourish.
Morland states in the manifesto: “In short, this is the time for government to actively drive a new cycle of growth, investment and jobs with some simple, immediate and informed decisions. Yet the route legislation is currently taking outlaws all cannabis production, except isolate.
“Bluntly this would be a short-sighted mistake that doesn’t consider what is clearly the single most important economic opportunity available to post-Brexit UK, to legislate for and build a framework to enable a well-regulated home-grown Cannabis Industry.”
And goes on to say: “With a proper process established, post-Brexit UK has an excellent chance of becoming the leading force in the premium segment of the Cannabis Industry, generating massive economic benefits just like Scottish Whisky. Or it’s too hard, we don’t bother, and watch others doing it instead. It’s as simple as that.”
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