Accies sponsored by cannabis oil firm
HAMILTON ACCIES came under fire last night after it emerged they have struck a controversial stadium-naming deal with a cannabis oil firm.
New Douglas Park will be known as the Hope CBD Stadium as part of a new sponsorship drive which will earn Accies a five-figure payment per season, as well as a percentage share of the profits from the sale of cannabis-based products.
It follows a disastrous period off the pitch for the Premiership club when they lost nearly £1million in a bank scam as well as seeing their agreement with previous stadium sponsor SuperSeal collapse.
Hamilton’s chief executive Colin McGowan is the owner and director of company Hope CBD, which operates a small store within the stadium. The firm sell a range of legal products such as tea, ointment and sweets that contain cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of the cannabis plant.
Already anticipating a negative reaction to the new deal, he told STV: ‘Will there be people out there saying: “Hamilton Accies are supporting a drug, it’s
unbelievable...”? Yes, you are going to get that.’ Insisting, however, that there is no ‘high’ from CBD, a substance whose supporters claim can alleviate pain and seizures, McGowan added: ‘I think sometimes when people hear the word “cannabis”, they think of law-breaking or addiction. ‘If there was anything of an addictive nature in it, we’d be a hundred miles away from it. ‘We are pretty well-known for the work we do in the field of addiction.’ Last night, however, Professor Neil McKeganey, director of the Centre of Substance Use Research in Glasgow, described the sponsorship as a ‘regrettable step’ and said it sends out the wrong message about cannabis in general. ‘In the public mindset, it will be seen as a form of cannabis advertising,’ he said. ‘It’s surprising that any football club wants to align itself with the cannabis plant, which is effectively what is happening here, even though CBD is not the bit that gets you high. ‘The real worry for me is that it’s part and parcel of cannabis becoming much more socially accepted. It is a way of normalising it.’ The World Health Organisation guidance on CBD says there is some evidence the substance ‘could have some therapeutic value for seizures due to epilepsy and other conditions’ — but stresses that ‘more research is needed’ and does not recommend cannabidiol for medical use. On the field of play, meanwhile, Hamilton Accies boss Martin Canning fears his team’s Betfred Cup campaign is already doomed. Accies can’t catch Group F leaders Livingston but victory at home to Lanarkshire rivals Airdrieonians today would propel them up to second place in their section. With only the top four section runners-up qualifying for the knockout rounds, however, Canning admits their chances of reaching the last 16 are slim. ‘Losing to Annan Athletic and then the penalty shoot-out against Livingston looks to have cost us,’ he said. ‘We should never have lost that game down at Annan but we did. We then put ourselves in a decent position against Livingston but again failed to get the result and it has left us with a mountain to climb. ‘All we can do now is try to win on Saturday and see where that leaves us.’ Victory over Berwick Rangers in the final group game today will see Kenny Miller’s Livingston progress to the last 16 as table toppers.