A cannabis oil firm from Nottingham is launching an investment campaign as it seeks to fill a gap in the market which is being left by "unethical" suppliers.
The Cannabis Oil Company has already appointed specialist clinicians as it begins producing and retailing cannabidiol (CBD) wellness products in the vitamins, minerals and supplements market.
Retailing primarily online, the firm is crowdfunding for £500,000 as it looks to expand into a market forecast to be worth about £1.5 billion by 2020.
They have formed a joint venture with pharmaceutical supplier IPS specials to grow their share of the UK market. They will initially make pharma-standard product available through 5,500 pharmacies.
The team behind the venture say regulation in the industry is expected soon and they will manufacture their products to a standard that will meet this. This regulation will also mean "unethical and unscrupulous" suppliers are decreasing and incremental growth into the market will now be key.
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Freddie Reid, a fintech entrepreneur who co-founded the company, said: "This is about investments by the people to benefit the people - the people being a community which has experienced or believes in the efficacy of CBD.
"The TCOC team composes serial entrepreneurs with wide-ranging business interests, turning over hundreds of millions of pounds. By putting resource behind clinical expertise, investment in the future of CBD and a recognition of its potential might be likened to the 21st century equivalent of business with a social conscience riding into the Wild West."
Mr Reid says the company will focus on ethical production of products and will be highly self-regulated, in anticipation of future industry regulation.
He also wants to change conceptions of the industry and how medicinal cannabis and CBD are different from the recreational drug, with CBD purported to have significant therapeutic effects.
He added: "There's a general lack of understanding of cannabis-derived products, legalities, and boundaries between recreational, medicinal and wellness, and where CBD fits in.
"Cannabis is, unfortunately, stigmatised. CBD - cannabidiol - is not cannabis, but a component of cannabis, does not create 'highs', and is legal. TCOC retails only CBD products."
A proportion of profits made through the venture will also go towards clinical trials of cannabis-derived products, and support vulnerable people who rely on CBD and cannabis-based treatments.
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