We are calling for greater police recognition of the legitimate UK CBD, hemp, hemp-derived products and wider cannabinoid industry.
Following the police raid on One Life Health & Nutrition Ltd, I believe there needs to be a serious conversation about how police distinguish legitimate CBD, hemp and hemp-derived products from illegal cannabis being sold by drug dealers or produced by illegal cannabis growers.
We are not asking to be above the law.
We are asking for the people enforcing the law to properly recognise, understand and be trained in the industry they are policing.
There is a massive difference.
THIS IS A BUSINESS, NOT A DRUG DEALER
Walk into our shop and you'll see a business.
We have established suppliers.
We have invoices.
We have Certificates of Analysis.
We have customers.
We have business records.
We pay VAT.
We pay taxes.
We use professional legal advisers.
We accept debit and credit card payments through payment processors that carry out their own checks and due diligence on our business.
We operate openly on the high street.
We're not hiding down a back street.
We're not running an illegal cannabis grow.
We're not somebody selling bags of illegal cannabis from underneath a table.
We are a health and nutrition business operating openly in the United Kingdom.
Yet following our experience, I seriously question whether enough distinction is being made between legitimate businesses operating in the CBD, hemp and hemp-derived products industry and the illegal cannabis market.
That's why I believe police recognition, education and specialist training need to change.
WE ARE NOT HIDING – WE ARE A VAT-PAYING UK BUSINESS
This is one of the things that frustrates me the most.
One Life Health & Nutrition Ltd isn't operating from somebody's bedroom or the back of a van.
We operate openly.
We pay VAT.
We pay our taxes.
We purchase products through established suppliers.
We have invoices.
We have Certificates of Analysis for our products.
We have specialist legal advice through Fieldfisher Solicitors, who vet and review our company on a monthly basis. This includes reviewing new products we introduce and keeping us informed and advised on current law and any relevant legal or regulatory changes affecting the hemp and cannabinoid industry.
Fieldfisher Solicitors:
We also work with payment processors that allow us to accept debit and credit card payments, and those companies carry out their own checks and due diligence before agreeing to process payments for our business.
We aren't hiding.
We are operating in plain sight.
So yes, I find it incredibly frustrating that it's perfectly acceptable for HMRC to collect VAT generated by our business month after month, while at the same time police officers can come through our doors and, in my opinion, treat us like criminals while apparently lacking sufficient understanding of the specialist industry they're dealing with.
To be clear, I understand that paying VAT does not mean HMRC has personally approved every individual product on our shelves.
But look at the bigger picture.
We're a registered business contributing money to the public purse.
We're maintaining business records.
We're purchasing through established suppliers.
We're obtaining Certificates of Analysis.
We're paying for specialist legal advice.
We're being vetted by financial companies before they're prepared to process our customers' debit and credit card payments.
What more should a responsible business owner reasonably be expected to do?
CBD, HEMP, HEMP-DERIVED PRODUCTS AND ILLEGAL CANNABIS SHOULD NOT AUTOMATICALLY BE PUT IN THE SAME BOX
CBD, hemp, hemp-derived products, cannabis and the wider cannabinoid industry can be complicated.
There are different cannabinoids.
There are different products.
There are different formulations.
There are different manufacturing processes.
There are laboratory reports.
There are Certificates of Analysis.
There are different legal classifications and regulatory requirements.
There are also products that can look or smell similar while potentially having very different chemical compositions.
That's precisely the problem.
You cannot necessarily determine the chemical composition or legal status of a product simply by looking at it.
If a police officer sees something that looks like cannabis flower, resin or another cannabis-style product, I can understand why questions might be asked.
But questions should lead to proper investigation.
They should lead to documentation being checked.
They should lead to Certificates of Analysis being examined.
And where necessary, they should lead to proper independent laboratory testing.
It shouldn't simply become:
"It looks like cannabis, therefore it must be illegal cannabis."
That distinction matters enormously to legitimate businesses.
STOP ASSUMING – START TESTING
If the police genuinely suspect that one of our CBD, hemp or hemp-derived products contains a controlled substance, test it.
Let science answer the question.
Check the Certificate of Analysis.
Trace the supplier.
Check our invoices.
Speak to our legal advisers.
Obtain expert laboratory analysis.
Follow the evidence.
That's all I'm asking.
Don't make assumptions based solely on appearance, smell, packaging or terminology.
If specialist knowledge is required, bring in somebody with specialist knowledge.
Get somebody who understands the chemistry.
Get somebody who understands the legislation.
Get somebody who understands laboratory analysis and Certificates of Analysis.
Then follow the evidence wherever it leads.
WE NEED SPECIALIST POLICE TRAINING
This is where I want something positive to come from our experience.
I would like to see specialist training and clearer guidance available to police officers dealing with CBD, hemp and hemp-derived products.
I'm not expecting every police officer in Britain to become a cannabinoid chemist.
That's ridiculous.
What I'm asking for is recognition that this is a specialist and rapidly developing industry.
Officers dealing with these businesses should have access to training and specialist guidance covering areas such as:
The distinction between CBD, hemp, hemp-derived products and controlled cannabinoids.
How Certificates of Analysis work and what they can and cannot establish.
How legitimate supply-chain documentation can be checked.
How invoices and batch information can help establish where products originated.
When specialist laboratory analysis is required.
Why appearance, smell, packaging or branding alone may not establish the chemical composition of a product.
When expert legal, scientific or technical advice should be obtained before conclusions are reached.
That protects everybody.
It protects the police.
It protects consumers.
It protects legitimate businesses.
And it allows police resources to be focused on people who are actually breaking the law.
WHY WAS OUR SHOP RAIDED?
Our shop was recently raided by the police.
I'm entitled to ask why.
Why us?
Why was a business operating openly, paying VAT, holding invoices, obtaining Certificates of Analysis and taking specialist legal advice subjected to this level of enforcement?
I'm not saying the police aren't entitled to investigate when they genuinely believe an offence may have been committed.
Of course they are.
But an investigation should be proportionate, properly informed and based on evidence.
If officers don't understand a specialist industry, surely the answer is to obtain specialist advice rather than automatically treating the people involved like drug dealers.
WATCH THE VIDEO FROM THE POLICE RAID
People can see the reality of what happened and make their own minds up.
Watch the video from the police raid here:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1537794234107588
I'm not asking anybody to blindly take my side.
Watch it.
Listen.
Look at what happened.
Then ask the same question I'm asking:
Are legitimate CBD, hemp and hemp-derived product businesses being properly recognised and understood by the police, or is it time for better education and specialist training?
WHY WEREN'T THE BIG SUPPLIERS RAIDED?
And there's another uncomfortable question I will continue asking.
Why weren't the major suppliers further up the supply chain raided?
If retailers like us are purchasing products from established UK suppliers, receiving invoices and obtaining supporting documentation, surely investigators should understand the entire supply chain.
Where did the product originate?
Who manufactured it?
Who supplied it?
What does the Certificate of Analysis show?
What does independent laboratory testing show?
What do the invoices show?
If there is genuinely a problem with a product, establish where that problem originated.
Follow the supply chain.
Follow the invoices.
Follow the Certificates of Analysis.
Follow the laboratory evidence.
I'm not accusing those suppliers of doing anything wrong.
I'm asking why enforcement appears to have landed at our door.
I believe that's a perfectly legitimate question.
BULLIES WITH BADGES
I'll use the words that describe how this experience has felt to me:
Bullies with badges.
That's how it has felt.
I'm not saying every police officer is a bully.
I'm not saying every police officer is corrupt.
And I'm not anti-police.
Police officers perform an incredibly important job, and there are professional officers doing difficult work every single day.
But a badge comes with enormous power.
With that power should come knowledge, proportionality, responsibility and accountability.
When those powers are exercised against somebody's business, the consequences can be enormous.
If an officer doesn't understand CBD, hemp, hemp-derived products or a particular cannabinoid, there's nothing wrong with saying:
"I need an expert."
In fact, I would have far more respect for that.
Get the experts involved.
Get the laboratory results.
Check the paperwork.
Follow the evidence.
THE DAMAGE DOESN'T END WHEN THE POLICE LEAVE
A police raid isn't simply officers walking into a building and then walking back out again.
There are real consequences.
Property can be taken.
Stock can be taken.
Business equipment and documents can be taken.
A premises can be disrupted.
Property can be damaged.
Customers can see police outside.
People start talking.
Your reputation can suffer before you've even had the opportunity to establish what the products actually contain.
And then the police leave.
But the business owner is left behind dealing with the consequences.
The stress.
The disruption.
The financial impact.
The reputational damage.
The effect on your family.
That's something I don't believe should ever be forgotten.
THIS BUSINESS PUTS FOOD ON MY CHILDREN'S TABLE
One Life Health & Nutrition Ltd isn't simply a company name to me.
This is my livelihood.
This business puts food on my table for my children.
It pays bills.
It supports livelihoods.
It pays suppliers.
It pays VAT.
It pays taxes.
It serves customers.
There are real human beings behind businesses.
There are families.
There are children.
There are employees.
There are suppliers.
There are customers.
So when police powers are used against a business, those decisions have consequences far beyond the person whose name is above the door.
Our raid caused harm and distress to me, my family and my business.
That's my lived experience of what happened.
And that's why I'm speaking about it.
IT'S OK FOR HMRC TO TAKE OUR VAT – SO WHY ARE WE BEING TREATED LIKE CRIMINALS?
This is the contradiction that frustrates me.
HMRC is perfectly happy to collect VAT generated through our business.
We operate openly within the financial system.
Professional payment processors vet us before allowing us to accept debit and credit card payments.
We obtain Certificates of Analysis.
We maintain supplier invoices.
We pay for specialist legal advice through Fieldfisher Solicitors.
Yet despite all of this, we've experienced police officers coming through our doors, taking property and treating us, in my opinion, as though we're criminals.
Again, paying VAT doesn't constitute HMRC approval of individual products.
I understand that.
But surely all of these factors demonstrate something important:
We are not hiding.
We're attempting to operate as a legitimate, accountable business.
So investigate us if there are genuine grounds.
Ask questions.
Check our paperwork.
Test products.
Speak to suppliers.
Speak to our legal advisers.
But treat us like a business while you establish the facts.
WE ARE NOT ASKING TO BE ABOVE THE LAW
Let me make this absolutely clear.
I'm not asking for CBD, hemp or hemp-derived product businesses to be above the law.
Quite the opposite.
If somebody is knowingly selling illegal controlled drugs, investigate them.
If somebody is operating an illegal cannabis grow, investigate them.
If somebody is deliberately breaking the law, gather the evidence and deal with them appropriately.
But legitimate businesses should not automatically be treated as though they're illegal drug operations.
Investigate where there are genuine grounds.
But understand the industry you're investigating.
That's the difference.
WORK WITH THE INDUSTRY, NOT AGAINST IT
I would happily sit around a table with police representatives, local authorities, Trading Standards, laboratory professionals, legal experts and responsible members of the UK CBD, hemp and hemp-derived products industry.
Let's talk.
Let's educate each other.
Let's develop proper guidance.
Let's give frontline officers somewhere to turn when they encounter a hemp-derived or cannabinoid product they don't understand.
Let's create a clear pathway for checking Certificates of Analysis, suppliers, invoices and laboratory results.
Because the answer shouldn't be police versus businesses.
It should be responsible businesses and responsible authorities working together.
If the law or guidance isn't clear enough, improve it.
If police training isn't keeping pace with a rapidly developing hemp and cannabinoid industry, improve the training.
If businesses don't understand their responsibilities, educate them too.
That is how progress happens.
WE WANT RECOGNITION, EDUCATION AND CHANGE
I'm angry about what happened to my business.
I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
But anger on its own achieves nothing.
I want something positive to come from this.
I want recognition of the legitimate CBD, hemp and hemp-derived products industry.
I want education.
I want better understanding.
I want better police training.
I want officers to have access to specialist experts.
I want greater understanding of Certificates of Analysis.
I want greater understanding of legitimate supply chains.
I want evidence-based and proportionate enforcement.
And I want police officers to have the knowledge necessary to distinguish between legitimate businesses selling CBD, hemp and hemp-derived products and the illegal cannabis trade.
If somebody is selling illegal drugs, deal with them.
If somebody is running an illegal cannabis grow, deal with them.
If somebody is deliberately breaking the law, deal with them.
But don't automatically put legitimate businesses in the same category.
I WILL DEFEND MY BUSINESS
One Life Health & Nutrition Ltd is more than a shop to me.
It's something I've worked for.
It's something my family depends upon.
It puts food on my children's table.
So yes, I will defend it.
I will ask difficult questions.
I will challenge decisions when I believe they're wrong.
I will ask why businesses further up the supply chain weren't apparently treated in the same way.
And I will continue calling for proper police recognition of the legitimate UK CBD, hemp and hemp-derived products industry.
I'm not asking the police to ignore the law.
I'm asking them to properly understand what they're looking at before deciding somebody has broken it.
I'm asking for education before assumption.
Testing before conclusions.
Evidence before judgement.
And understanding before legitimate business owners are treated like criminals.
We pay VAT.
We pay taxes.
We use established suppliers.
We hold invoices.
We obtain Certificates of Analysis.
We undergo payment processor due diligence.
We pay for specialist legal advice through Fieldfisher Solicitors, who vet and review our company monthly, including new products and relevant changes in law.
We operate openly.
Our families depend upon these businesses.
We don't want to be above the law.
We want the people enforcing the law to properly understand the industry they're policing.
That's not unreasonable.
That's responsible policing.
Let's stop automatically treating every CBD, hemp and hemp-derived products business like a drug dealer.
Let's educate.
Let's test.
Let's follow the evidence.
Let's work together.
And let's make sure enforcement is aimed at the people actually breaking the law without unnecessarily destroying legitimate businesses, livelihoods and the families who depend upon them in the process.
I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE.
Lee Davis
One Life Health & Nutrition Ltd