Jeremy Corbyn’s son Tommy is set to open a hemp shop named after the UK’s embattled National Health Service (NHS).
The 26-year-old and his girlfriend Chloe Kerslake-Smith, 24, will run ‘The National Hemp Service’ in Stroud Green Road in the Labour leader’s Islington North constituency in London.
The National Hemp Service is due to open in September
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The Islington Gazette reports: The entrepreneurial couple will unveil their “all hemp” shop and cafe in September, where every product will be made from the versatile crop, which is a strain of the cannabis sativa species.
For Chloe and Tommy, sustainability and sourcing products from like-minded independent firms is the mission statement – and they plan to educate people about the fast growing crop’s bona fide medicinal, economic and eco attributes, while also campaigning for cannabis legalisation.
“We are trying to show everyone all the things hemp can do,” said Chloe, 24. “Because it’s sustainable, incredible for the earth and climate and should be decriminalised.
“Every product we sell will be made from hemp, whether that’s hemp seed oil, CBD [cannabidiol] oil, CBD skin care, clothing made from hemp, lube, gourmet marshmallows. So far we don’t know of anyone else doing an all hemp shop.”
Tommy, 26, whose Islington North MP dad Jeremy Corbyn is supportive of the business, told the Gazette: “We want to champion hemp as a material for all different things. We think cannabis has been demonised for a long time and hemp can be a good gateway into finding out more about it – we don’t want people to be afraid of the plants.
“Most people don’t know about hemp. It’s not a normal thing in this country unfortunately, we are going to change that.
“We want to help push legalisation forward – it’s the answer to a lot of our health and sustainability issues.
“Hemp offers a huge amount of solutions to the problems of today, in terms of agriculture, environment, even economically, if we all start growing hemp it would help.
“Especially in the Brexit environment when we are not going to be able to export much to the European Union, hemp is part of the solution.” Chloe added that a UK hemp growing drive would help “bring jobs to our fields”.
Hemp crop consumes minimal water and absorbs CO2 while it grows. It can be used in construction, as fuel, to make clothes and textiles, for consumption as a super food and in medicine. CBD oil is extracted from the cannabis plant but is legal and, unlike the plant’s psychoactive THC compound, doesn’t get you “high”.
Studies show CBD is effective in treating severe childhood epilepsy, chronic pain, and inflammation due to arthritis, as well as combating anxiety and insomnia.
The couple have grafted away for months, taking a DIY approach to decking out their shop, which Chloe described as a “labour of love”.
