A HOTEL which claims to be the first in the world to offer guests cannabis oil products is set to open in Colchester.
Green Coffee Lab launched on Friday in St Botolph’s Circus, adjacent to Colchester Town Station.
Once fully operational the new business, which includes a cafe, will offer coffees, teas, cakes and food infused with CBD oil and hemp as well as alcohol cocktails and sweets.
It will also sell CBD oil itself.
The business has been launched by Tim Acton and Gregory Land, who have run online ordering business Canna CBD from Wrabness for three years.
Mr Acton said: “We have a website and that has done extremely well. We have a lot of people who want to click and collect and we were being bombarded by people asking about it.
“It is exciting and a little bit daunting because it is a relatively new industry and a new project which no one has ever done here before.
“As far as we know we are the first CBD hotel in the world.”
CBD oil, or cannabidiol, is made from the cannabis plant and is a food supplement. It is used by people across the world for ailments like anxiety and multiple sclerosis.
Mr Acton said he was not allowed to make claims about the medicinal properties of CBD, but he had seen first hand how it can help change people’s lives.
“Around the time I first started my dad was suffering terrible from arthritis,” he said.
“After a couple of weeks of using the oil he was bouncing about like a teenager.
“One of the original reasons we came up with the shop idea was to educate people.
“There are so many people who come to us and think we are in the cannabis industry and ask whether they’ll be able to get stoned, it is really frustrating at times."
“The human body is designed to absorb it - we do not have that with ibuprofen or paracetamol.
“Without a doubt we should be explaining this more.”
The premises started serving drinks on Friday, with the kitchen set to be operational soon. The eight-room Leafy Hotel will open this week.
Mr Acton said: “I think CBD will become a mainstream thing and be in people's minds more in the near future.”
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