Tory chief’s cousin buys 4,000 acres of cannabis
company grows and imports will only be for medicinal products.
Last year, products using cannabidiol, the cannabis extract used for treatments, became available on the NHS as Britain joined other European countries in relaxing rules on such medicines.
Block Commodities, which specialises in agriculture in Africa, has decided to focus on the cannabis market and has agreed to pay £4million in shares to buy Greenbelt Company. Last year Greenbelt was given the go-ahead by the Sierra Leone government to grow cannabis on 4,000 acres.
Chris Cleverly, a former dancer turned barrister and businessman, said James had no involvement in the company. Asked if he had ever smoked cannabis, he replied: ‘Let’s just say I’ve lived a full life.’
James Cleverly has admitted to having ‘dabbled’ with marijuana at university. The Braintree MP said: ‘It’s a waste of money, waste of time and not very good for your future prospects.’ He declined to comment last night. HE has called smoking marijuana a ‘waste of money’. So Tory Party Deputy Chairman James Cleverly could be forgiven for having doubts about his cousin’s new business venture – importing cannabis to Britain.
Chris Cleverly is executive chairman of agriculture firm Block Commodities, which on Wednesday became one of the few British companies to obtain a licence to grow the plant.
Block Commodities wants to import the cannabis from Sierra Leone, where Chris and James’s mothers are from, to Europe and the UK so it can be used in cannabis-based medicines.
Chris and James’s British fathers are brothers and their mothers are best friends. It is understood that any cannabis the