An ex-banker is heading an international firm specialising in cannabis products to treat chronic pain.
Neil Smith, 56, is the chairman of Germany-based firm Eurox Pharma and CEO of the Integro Medical Clinic, which dispenses medicines to people in the UK.
And the companies control the entire process from growing the plant, to turning it into medicine and then dispensing it.
It is a far cry from Neil’s career as first a chartered accountant then a lecturer and ultimately working in the City and banking in London.
When he retired from banking he started several companies before moving into cannabis with a former colleague.
Neil, from Scone, Perthshire, said: “I started doing it essentially as a business opportunity but when I started to work in it I saw the amazing impact cannabis medicines can have on life.”
The benefits of cannabidiol and THC, Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol – the most common active ingredients found in cannabis – for the treatment of epilepsy are currently being trialled and debated.
But Neil said his team do not prescribe for either epilepsy in particular or kids in general.
He said: “Epilepsy has made headlines but we are not doing anything like that in our clinic – which is for adults only – because we don’t have a doctor who is comfortable prescribing it.”
Instead, his business is focused on managing pain and palliative care.
Neil said: “People in their last days are on super-strong meds but switching to cannabis meds allows them to enjoy, if that is the right word, the last few weeks of their life. They get a quality of life they wouldn’t get on opioids.”
Other transformative uses include chronic sports injuries where, perhaps, the only alternative is surgery.
Neil added: “I passionately believe these meds should be made available on the NHS because they can make a huge difference to people’s lives.”
The plant is grown on 200 hectares of land in Portugal and the medicine made near Frankfurt.
The company’s chief medic is Dr Anthony Ordman, founder of the highly respected Chronic Pain Clinic at London’s Royal Free Hospital.
Since the pandemic, the clinic has become an online service and Neil is keen to recruit Scots doctors.
Neil explained: “A lot of people are nervous because cannabis is not part of their formal training but we can show them how these meds can work and help.”
