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Earlier this month, Ronnie Cowen, co-chair of the UK’s APPG on Industrial Hemp and CBD, made an impassioned appeal to Parliament for government investment in the UK’s cannabis industry.
A week after the Spring Budget was announced, Mr Cowen set out why hemp has been ignored, not only as a provider of jobs and investment to the UK economy, but also as an important tool to help meet carbon emissions reduction targets. I had doubts.
The topic was further explored at the APPG’s annual general meeting on industrial hemp and CBD products the next day, where Unite Group founder and CEO Jamie Bartley said private investment alone could significantly We explained why this is not enough to fund significant expansion. with the necessary infrastructure to enable industry to flourish.
hemp opportunity
Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt made little direct mention of climate change or carbon reduction efforts in his budget speech on March 6, in what analysts described as a missed opportunity to invest in green industries.
Labor also recently withdrew its £28bn green investment pledge, prompting speculation that the UK could soon follow President Biden’s green industry-focused inflation control legislation. It seems so.
Nevertheless, as Mr Cowen pointed out in his speech, the government is currently making significant contributions to reducing carbon emissions, including an increase in funding of £120 million to the Green Industry Growth Accelerator (GIGA) Fund. ”. In parallel with plans to invest heavily in nuclear energy, the country aims to expand its clean energy supply chain.
However, he posed the following doubts: “If you want to decarbonize the energy sector, if you want to stimulate agriculture, if you want to reduce plastic waste, if you want to reduce landfill, if you want to improve the environment and increase crop yields, then why at all about hemp? Was it not mentioned?”
He suggested that some people in the UK still fear the spread of recreational cannabis when they hear the word cannabis, but this is an attitude “based on ignorance”.
In particular, he cited the recent example of Jersey Hemp, a hemp grower that was unfairly banned from entering the UK by the Home Office in June last year, and has now admitted to wrongdoing.
“After months of legal action in the UK courts, the Home Office has finally admitted that it has acted illegally with respect to Jersey hemp.
“I mention this because it shows the UK government’s lack of vision and understanding of the cannabis plant.”
Investment and infrastructure
The next day, Mr Bartley helped Mr Cowen address some of the issues raised in Parliament, including why the UK is not taking more advantage of the opportunities presented by hemp.
“Why aren’t we doing more of this? We need a huge amount of infrastructure investment…I don’t think it’s possible with just private investment. We need government investment as well.”
As Nicholas Moreland, CEO of APPG’s former secretariat, Tenacious Labs, explained to the committee, only a fraction of the capital investors are willing to put into the market is currently available.
There are two main reasons for this. The first is the UK’s strict licensing framework, which requires hemp to have THC levels below 0.2%.
“THC content is a big risk for investors,” Bartley said, adding that continued dramatic temperature fluctuations due to climate change are putting “stress” on plants, causing THC levels to spike and crops to grow in excess. He added that it would be.
This has led investors to other European countries that have more lenient restrictions on cannabis farmers.
However, the main barrier to attracting hemp investment remains the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), which imposes penalties on industrial hemp farmers in the UK regardless of the THC content of the crop they grow. continues to impose.
Lawyers, insurance companies and banks are still unable to provide services due to POCA, meaning the routes for investment funds to enter the market remain severely restricted.
APPG has been pushing for reforms to POCA for several months, seeking to emulate similar changes in Jersey that have made Crown Addiction a thriving center for cannabis businesses.
Mr Moreland added: “The debate around POCA in Parliament and the House of Lords has been incredibly productive…but turning it into something useful from a legislative perspective, even if we are the people on the side. “It’s difficult even for people like us,” he added.
“I’m really excited. I feel like we’ve got some momentum… What we’re missing is someone at the top to execute these initiatives. It’s too big to be led by others.”
As Mr Bartley points out, governments have a huge opportunity to not only meet their 2050 net zero targets through new green building materials and carbon sequestration initiatives, but also create jobs and support local industry. It’s right in front of me. , and “upgrading the local economy.”
The industry has already laid out a detailed blueprint for reform, and with the private sector “willing to provide solutions” to many of the barriers, the APPG and Cowen are calling on the government to He asked them to “lead the way.”
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