WHERE THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER

Seven years after it was made legal for medicinal purposes, HANNA GEISSLER visits the top secret cannabis facility cultivating plants for prescriptions and speaks to one individual who says the drug has transformed his life for the better

- 

DARK sunglasses shield my eyes from blinding LED light. The temperature is steady and rows of exotic plants line the walls of the micro environment created to cultivate cannabis plants. Last week, the 30,000 square foot facility released its first ever shipment of cannabis for UK distribution - but I'm not on a raid with the police and there is nothing illegal about the production or recent transaction.

In fact, in distributing the drug, the site I'm standing in became the first and only one of its kind in the country to cultivate, manufacture and supply cannabis from a single location, doing so under a Good Manufacturing Practice licence issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Today, the top-secret location in England has opened its doors to the Daily Express and granted rare access to pharmaceutical cannabis supplier Dalgety's inner sanctum, where an expert team of growers nurture their crop with remarkable precision.

Sweet, herbal and with a hint of lemongrass, the smell is far more pleasant than I had expected. The aroma emitted by these flowering cannabis plants is a far cry from the musky stink you might encounter on a city street.

It is a proud moment for chief executive James Leavesley, who founded the company in 2019. But there is still a long road ahead to break down the stigma around the drug, he says.

"Hopefully the number of prescribing doctors increases as we create more awareness that cannabis has medical properties and can be used for a variety of conditions. It doesn't work for everybody, but there's a lot of realworld evidence now." Specialist doctors have been allowed to prescribe cannabis-based products since 2018, but only a handful of patients have received NHS prescriptions.