Swansea coffee shop is selling coffee with shots of cannabis oil

Customers at a Swansea coffee shop are swapping shots of caramel in their coffee for cannabidiol oil.

Bogarts CBD Coffee House, in Swansea, Wales, is one of a growing number of businesses selling the legal product.

An otherwise typical coffee shop, Bogarts CBD Coffee House adds shots of CBD oil to favourites such as camomile tea, hot chocolate and even pumpkin spice lattes.

While the Welsh Government and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) say there is little evidence of its medical benefits, the coffee shop's customers claim that it helps them with a number of health conditions including arthritis and anxiety.

“It's hard to explain but my brain would just calm down,” customer Lucy Bason told the BBC.

“I suffer from depression and anxiety. Normally with my anxiety it's about having quite bad repetitive thoughts, but this just slows that down. Every day before work I come in here."

She continued: “The coffee wakes me up but the CBD oil helps to chill me out. It says to me 'it's ok, you've got this'.”

The owner of the coffee shop, which is based on St Helen’s Road, says his customers range in age from 18 to 80 years old and that, while the majority of his younger customers use CBD for anxiety, older customers find it helps with painful conditions such as arthritis and fibromyalgia, a condition that causes pain all over the body.

“People do come in here thinking it's an actual cannabis coffee shop, thinking they're going to have a cup of coffee and float out of here, but obviously that's not the case at all,” explained coffee shop owner owner Jeff Lang.

What exactly is cannabidiol oil?

A non-psychoactive chemical compound found in the marijuana plant, CBD doesn’t disrupt the central nervous system because it doesn’t contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the other key compound in cannabis which causes users to get high.

This means that products containing CBD, such as oils and extracts (which contain concentrated amounts of the compound), won’t lead to changes in mood and perception like recreational use of marijuana in its complete form is known to do.

Instead the ingredient, which is sold in mainstream health shops, advertises benefits such as relief from inflammation, pain relief and reduction in anxiety.

Earlier this year, it was announced that medicinal cannabis oil, which is slightly different to CBD oil, will be available on prescription in the UK from November.

The home secretary Sajid Javid said: “Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory.

“Following advice from two sets of independent advisors, I have taken the decision to reschedule cannabis-derived medicinal products – meaning they will be available on prescription.

“This will help patients with an exceptional clinical need.”

However, possession of cannabis, which remains a class B drug, will still carry an unlimited fine and up to five years in jail, while dealers face 14 years.