In an enormous glasshouse a few hours from London, there’s a powerful, unmistakable smell in the air: it’s the one that seems to cling to some surly teenagers and drifts around on the breeze at pop festivals. Here, 30,000 cannabis plants sway gently beneath giant fans and immensely bright lights. Only the remarkable uniformity of the plants – and the people walking round in lab coats – tells you the place isn’t some drug lord’s illicit cannabis factory. This is the only research facility in the UK licensed to grow cannabis on a vast commercial scale. Here, Dr David Potter has overseen the production of nearly 2m cannabis plants, mostly for medical research or the production of the cannabis-based multiple sclerosis drug Sativex. He is director of botany and cultivation for GW Pharmaceuticals, a company that is exploring how cannabis could help treat a range of illnesses ranging from epilepsy to cancer.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 05:08:12 +0000
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