How legal cannabis based medicine inspired a Hebden Bridge business

The Tonic in Hebden Bridge Mill is run by directors Kate Henderson and Michelle Oxley, who are residents of the town.

All their products are legal and they are members of the governing body Cannabis Trades Association UK.

The shop and drop-in room has been founded after Michelle and her family saw the benefits of cannabis to help her brother Mark, who suffered from Multiple Sclerosis for 35 years.

Michelle said: “His only relief from the condition came via cannabis. Due to government legislation, this meant that in order to help, the family had no choice but to commit an illegal act by supplying him with it.

“No-one wants to break the law, but watching a loved one suffer acute pain, blindness and muscular spasms in the full knowledge that there was a method by which to ease his discomfort would have felt inhumane.

“When my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and began to display symptoms associated with the disease such as anxiety and paranoia, I began to research CBD oil in the search for an alternative to the prescribed medication which was leaving him in a virtual vegetative state.

“The natural, organic nature of good CBD oil appealed to me, and I felt a four per cent solution would be worth trying.

“Within two days my dad’s anxiety had diminished to virtually nothing and my mother, father and father’s carer all got their first decent night’s sleep in a decade.”

All of The Tonic’s products are ‘full spectrum’, meaning they contain more than just CBD and have a full array of Cannabinoids.

CBD (Cannabinoids) are the compounds in the cannabis plant which have been reported to provide relief to an array of ailments.

“Think of CBD as a herbal remedy, a pure plant extract that, unlike other known plant-based remedies, is more effective on our health than anything we’ve experienced from nature,” added Kate.

“Cannabidiol has been used by humans since the dawn of civilisation. CBD is a natural constituent of hemp and cannabis, a plant that has been utilized for centuries as medicine.”