For many years, the prohibition of cannabis was justified through its alleged links to violence, addiction and poor mental health. Media portrayals often missed out mentions of creativity, inspiration and healing, only highlighting its influence as criminal, dirty and immoral.
Since Cannabidiol (CBD) became legal and UK high-street stores started stocking it in January 2018, the market has seen remarkable growth. As of 2024, approximately 1.3 million people in the UK use CBD regularly, with over 6 million having tried a CBD product in the past year. The UK CBD market is projected to exceed £800 million in sales in 2025.
The acceptance of CBD onto the high street soon led to its appearance in other stores, chemists' stores and even doctors' surgeries. Seeing the seven-pointed leaf proudly displayed in such wholesome environments began to offer an alternative to some of the negative associations.
The perception of medical cannabis and CBD have always been linked and the changing approaches to each have influenced the views we hold today. To understand the events that underpin our approach and how they might change in the future, let’s look at how the fortunes of CBD and cannabis have been entwined for centuries.
The plant that we know as cannabis grows flowers which contain natural psychoactive chemicals and are often used for the high they can produce. This high comes from a natural chemical found in the plant called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC and Cannabidiol (CBD) are both cannabinoids found in all varieties of cannabis.
Hemp is a variety of the cannabis genus with different properties and characteristics. Genus means a class of plants that are closely related. Hemp contains less than 0.2% THC and higher amounts of Cannabidiol. High-quality hemp extract is often called full-spectrum CBD extract, which has naturally low amounts of THC and contains other beneficial, non-psychoactive ingredients; together, they can produce the entourage effect.
Since its origin in Asia, cannabis has a long history of medical and spiritual use. It has been used to relieve toothache and even to dull labour pains. Hemp also has many uses including rope, fabric, building material and sail canvas.
However, both variants have faced nearly two centuries of prohibition. In 1800, Napoleon banned his troops from smoking cannabis during their occupation of Egypt. Since then, many countries have enforced some form of the ban for many reasons.
Between 1535, when Henry VIII declared that all landowners must sow ¼ of an acre of hemp or face a fine, and in 1920, hemp accounted for 80% of the UK’s textile production. While hemp grows quickly and in different environments, it is labour-intensive to farm and harvest. This led to imported cotton becoming the preferred crop, protected at all costs by those invested in cotton harvests.
As early as 1910 the use of ‘reefer’ (cannabis) was reported in New Orleans Jazz clubs and was linked to the vibrant development of the jazz scene. It was seen as fuel to the impassioned, frenetic energy of the jazz musicians who brought halls full of people to their feet to dance through the joys, pains and segregations of the time.
While the link between cannabis and Jazz often breathed life into downtrodden communities, it also led to the prohibition of marijuana in America. To the American government and big business, cannabis would always appear as something different, something strange, something to be feared. When prohibition occurred the word ‘marijuana’ was used. It is often suggested that even this choice of using a word of Mexican origin was designed to create associations of something un-American and something unwelcome.
It wasn’t just America that wanted to halt the use of the cannabis plant because in 1924 the second International Opiates Conference declared cannabis as a narcotic and that it should be subject to international controls. In the UK, the 1925 Dangerous Drugs Act soon followed and categorised all cannabis, including hemp, as illegal.
The association between Jazz and cannabis continued throughout the first half of the century, and in 1930, Louis Armstrong was arrested in Los Angeles for cannabis possession. However, jazz culture lit a spark that inspired young people worldwide to throw off the repression created by WWII, and the 1940s saw the rise of the Beat Generation.
Starting in America, this movement had a lasting impact on a global youth counterculture. The Beat Generation is most recognisable for the works of Allan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac but went on to include the work of hundreds of writers and poets, men and women.
While the Beat Generation was all about the written and spoken word, it was musical in its style. It often involved long passages produced as a stream of consciousness written in one prolonged sitting with minimal editing. The words' flow, rhythm and meter closely mimicked that of a jazz musician wailing out their groove.
While the use of cannabis hit a creative high so did that of hemp. In the approach to WWII and throughout, it became known again as a crucial crop. It was claimed to have over 25,000 historical uses, including ink, paint, paper, canvas, food, banknotes and building materials.
Its use became legal in the UK and US and could be produced in the US with the correct license. There was even a film made to encourage people to grow hemp. At the war's end, some feared its impact on other traditional markets, and it was again prohibited. In the following years, hemp continued to be confused with cannabis and remained underused and under-researched.
During the fifties and sixties, the response to cannabis possession in the UK was described as more independent and relaxed than the rest of the world. However, in 1965, parliament passed the new Dangerous Drugs Act, which made it illegal to grow cannabis or allow it to be smoked in your home.
Shortly after, an advert in the Times declared that ‘the laws against marijuana are immoral in principle and unworkable in practice’. Three thousand people, referred to as ‘hippies’ by the media, congregated in Hyde Park, London to hold a mass ‘smoke in’. While many people supported legalisation, the following decades saw increasing political opposition.
Hemp was still closely associated with cannabis and it was again officially prohibited in the USA in 1971 when President Nixon began the war on drugs. In 1990, the first indication that human and cannabis interaction had more significance was the discovery of THC receptors in the human brain. The first human cannabinoid (endocannabinoid), anandamide, was discovered in 1992.
While there was still little understanding of how cannabinoids interact with our nervous system it was clear that there was more to discover. These were essential steps in the knowledge that revealed that cannabinoids could have positive uses. In 1993, the UK legalised hemp strains containing less than 0.2% THC.
The potential for hemp in the industry has thousands of years of history behind it and potential for the future. Some of its uses today are composite board, brake pads, clutch pads, plastic, fuel and biodiesel.
Even with such possibilities, its links to cannabis have kept it under-used and often illegal. However, in recent years, the growth of hemp-sourced CBD products has begun to wear away at the negative perceptions of both cannabis and hemp.
The 20th Century was one of prohibition and a purposefully misdirected view of both hemp and cannabis. This continued into the early 21st Century in the UK, but eventually, global and local events put them back onto politicians' agendas.
A growing number of studies linked cannabis to medical benefits leading over thirty countries, including Australia and Germany, to legalise its medical use. Canada, Uruguay, and ten other US states have legalised recreational use as well. This has opened the global debate and set the scene for a series of events that would prove to be instrumental in altering our perceptions in the UK of CBD and cannabis:
As CBD products appeared in more high street shops the story of Billy Caldwell was brought to the nation’s attention. Twelve-year-old Billy suffered from regular epileptic seizures, which his mother had been successfully treating with Tilray cannabis oil in Canada.
Medical cannabis treatment had successfully given him 300 seizure-free days until the oil was confiscated by UK customs when he arrived at Heathrow. Unlike CBD oils available as food supplements in the UK, Tilray cannabis oil has a higher level of THC.
As Billy’s mother fought for Billy to receive cannabis-based treatment in the UK, children and their families suffering from similar conditions began to tell their own stories. Their cases were brought to parliament by MPs who shared stories from their constituencies and further afield, detailing the frustrations of cancer sufferers and epilepsy patients who would benefit from cannabis treatment.
Billy’s mother, Ms Caldwell, joined by other parents, was soon campaigning on behalf of all who would benefit from treatment:
I will also ask them to implement a review of how the government… can make cannabis-based medication available to all patients who urgently require it.
As Billy began to suffer seizures again through a lack of cannabis medication, the home office was able to make short courses of medical cannabis available on an individual basis. This wasn’t enough for the growing number of families presenting their cases. In November 2018, Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced the legalisation of cannabis for medical use.
He said, “Having been moved by heartbreaking cases involving sick children, it was important to me that we took swift action to help those who can benefit from medicinal cannabis”. Prescriptions can be given by specialist doctors as a last resort when no other treatment is effective.
Carly Barton was among the first to receive a prescription, however, because the NHS did not fill the prescriptions, she struggled to afford the price tag. A two-month supply can cost up to £2500, and there are often long delays in availability. Now, she risks prosecution by openly breaking the law to grow her own supply.
Following November’s legalisation, public interest in medical cannabis continued prompting several celebrities to open up about their experiences. Both cannabis and CBD has gained a following among celebrities.
Television presenter Jenny Powell appeared on Lorraine to talk about her experiences using CBD oil. Following a suggestion from her husband, she researched CBD and began to take it regularly.
Meanwhile, celebrity-backed brands have helped normalise CBD’s presence. Whoopi Goldberg co-founded a cannabis-based wellness line, Mike Tyson launched CBD snacks, and Sir Patrick Stewart has shared his preference for CBD balms.
Since its market boom in 2017, CBD has moved beyond oils and capsules, now featuring in everyday products across the UK. One of the fastest-growing areas is CBD-infused drinks, with brands like Trip and Little Rick gaining popularity as alcohol-free or energy drink alternatives. Coffee shops now serve CBD lattes and teas, and health food stores sell CBD chocolate and gummies, reflecting a shift towards casual consumption.
High-profile cases of medical cannabis treatment and the availability of CBD products in the high street have significantly changed the public profile of cannabis and had an impact on the debate surrounding its legalisation. The images associated with cannabis are no longer of smoke and deprivation but of hope and effective treatment.
Despite the legalisation of medical cannabis in 2018, many patients still struggle to access treatment. Louis Petit, a teenager with a rare form of epilepsy, and his mother had to leave London and move to the Netherlands to receive cannabis oil treatment, which drastically reduces his seizures. The NHS does not fund his medication, the cost remains around £1,500 a month, an expense many families simply cannot afford.
To meet the growing demand, UK-based companies have started producing medical cannabis domestically. Dalgety, a facility in the Midlands, now produces around 400kg of dry cannabis flowers per month, providing for approximately 4,000 prescriptions. Plans are in place to expand into cannabis oil production, which could improve both availability and affordability for patients who rely on these treatments.
Meanwhile, regulation of CBD products has also evolved. In late 2023, the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) revised its advice, reducing the recommended daily intake of CBD from 70mg to 10mg for healthy adults.
The FSA claims this decision is based on updated scientific reviews and reflects an effort to balance safety with consumer choice. Looking ahead, the FSA expects to approve the first authorised CBD products by mid-2025, providing clearer guidance and reassurance for both retailers and consumers.
CBD, the cannabinoid at the forefront of cannabis' rise in popularity, has helped shift perceptions of cannabis as a whole. From prohibition to prescription, cannabis has moved from the fringes and "illegality" to the mainstream and acceptance.
Once controversial, CBD is now a high-street staple, serving as a valuable adjunct to many people's supplementation programmes. The transformation began with media coverage, celebrity endorsements, and medical crises. Now, cannabis is part of daily life: on high street shelves, in our kitchens, and in everyday conversations.
No longer just a legal debate, CBD has bridged the gap between medicine and the mainstream, making cannabis an accepted part of modern wellness culture. As access and education grow, the stigma fades, allowing for a more informed and balanced perspective.
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Tom Russell
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Tom Russell writes extensively about CBD oil and other groundbreaking food supplements. He and his wife share their home with two daughters and a lifetime’s collection of books.