A pot of cannabis tea to soothe aches and pains is proving a runaway success in Lochaber.
The tea, which is legal due to the low volumes of the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, is causing quite a stir in Fort William with customers – particularly some older women, popping in for a cup of the calming drink.
Not Just Desserts on the High Street started selling the tea last week and already it is proving a hit with the locals.
Helen Smith, owner of the business, said she was delighted with the response to the product and hoped to start stocking it in her other cafe at St Columba’s Bay, near Benderloch in Argyll, soon.
Ms Smith said: “They sell it in London, and if it is good enough for them then it is good enough for here. It is even sold by a company who have the Royal Warrant.
“There are so many positive points of drinking the cannabis tea – it reduces stress and anxiety and it helps with pain and feelings of well being, and of course insomnia – so it really has some lovely side effects.
“We have customers who come in for a take away bag of the leaves.”
The tea is rich in Cannabidiol (CBD) an active ingredient in cannabis derived from the hemp plant, and is 100% organic.
The tea can be sold legally because it has less than 0.2% of a substance known as Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is the psychoactive component of the hemp plant’s make up.
At £4 for a pot, Ms Smith says it is not the cheapest tea that they sell, she said: “But it is probably one of the most talked about.
“It is a lovely, mild calming tea that has benefits and properties for people. It is good for people who might be in pain, or who are suffering from a long-term health condition.”
In recent years, people have been experimenting with using Cannabidiol in different forms to help treat conditions like pain, insomnia, and anxiety legally.
