Since its legalization in the UK, the number of medicinal cannabis prescriptions has surged. With demand showing no signs of slowing, one company has shown ambitions to take production of the drug to a new level.
However, to enter the facility, one must prove their identity, go through two secure gates, and pass through a bulletproof door. The security team is composed of ex-military personnel.
“We have hundreds of CCTV cameras around the place—all infrared,” James Leavesley, one of the founders of Dalgety, says.
This hi-tech facility is the first in the UK where cannabis can be grown, packed, and sold to pharmacies from a single location.
Leavesley, who became interested in growing legal cannabis six years ago, has an agricultural background, but when cannabis was legalized in the UK in 2018, the demand for the drug caught his attention.
“There was a government survey showing there are 1.8 million people in the UK sourcing illicit cannabis to help alleviate their medical conditions,” he says.
In January 2023, Dalgety secured a Home Office license to grow the plant, and in April of that year, they began their project. All the crops are genetically identical clones, but multiple batches had to be tested to ensure product consistency. In total, the business had spent £8m to £10m to reach this point. The stakes were high as a result.
Inside the Dalgety Factory
Many would assume that, upon entering the factory, they would walk into a cavernous room filled with the overwhelming smell of plants. Instead, they find several hospital-style corridors leading to several small laboratories.
James has stated that the lighting inside these rooms is bespoke and that artificial wind is created to ensure no microclimates develop. It’s also so bright that anyone who enters is issued a pair of specially-made glasses to protect their eyes.
Two Industries Within One
In September 2024, James and his team secured a second license, which allows them to sell cannabis. James believes that the challenge of obtaining both of these licenses is the reason others have been unable to build their “all-in-one” facilities.
“It’s almost two industries combined into one, so it’s an agricultural business and it’s a medical and pharmaceutical business as well, and most people have the ability to specialise in one or the other but not both,” he says.
The company aims to launch its products in January 2025. By this point, they will be able to produce enough products for 4,000 prescriptions a month.
There are currently 50,000 users of medical cannabis receiving prescriptions from a total of 33 private pharmacies. However, few people using the NHS are given the drug. This is because not all cannabis products are approved for use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Those that are approved utilize only specific parts of the plant.
Who uses medicinal cannabis in the UK?
Laura, a teacher from Nottinghamshire who has chosen to go by an alias, has bought black-market cannabis previously to help with various medical conditions—mostly musculoskeletal, she says, due to widespread nerve damage.
Laura’s conditions have been so painful that she has been prescribed the strongest of drugs, including one called ketamine. It was only when she was referred to a specialist that it was suggested she look into using cannabis as a treatment.
“I had to decide if I wanted to do something that would put my career in jeopardy or feel well,” she says.
She started using the drug illegally, but was worried about not just the legality, but the safety, as drugs one can buy off the street are not guaranteed to be certain strains, and their strengths may vary.
Laura now uses a UK-based online clinic called Alternaleaf, which is safer both mentally and physically, as she knows she’s getting legal, tested strains rather than black-market products.
“I wouldn’t want to be without it as I’d be in so much pain,” she says. “If I wake up late and I haven’t had any, I can start to feel the pain creeping in.”
Despite the relief cannabis gives her, Laura is still unable to tell anyone beyond close family and friends about her use of the drug. She claims that stigma persists, with many assuming that everyone who uses marijuana is, according to Laura, “a stoner.”
