By Brian Houlihan

Joel Stanley talking to visitors atthe Dublin Hemp Museum

Over the past few days Dublin was filled with medical cannabis activists, patients, producers, researchers and others involved in the industry from across the globe. Never before in Ireland has such expertise and enthusiasm around medical cannabis been present in the one city.

These guests were in Ireland as part of the Global Medical Cannabis summit which was organised by Help Not Harm. Among one of the most popular guests in Dublin during the week was Joel Stanley, one of the brains behind Charlotte’s Web.

Global Medical Cannabis Summit

Joel and his family created Charlotte’s Web, a variety of cannabis known for its high CBD levels and medicinal properties. The strain is named after Charlotte Figi, a young girl who suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy.

For the past few years Charlotte (and others) have been using Charlotte’s Web and to alleviate their symptoms. Since then the use of CBD has grown with many more people now using a range of CBD products.

Charlotte’s Web became famous after the Stanley’s and Charlotte Figi featured in a number of documentaries, including CNN’s ‘Weed: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports’. Charlotte’s story, and the work of the Stanley’s, has inspired families across the world to learn more about medical cannabis.

You can watch the documentary in full below

Weed: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports

As part of Joel’s visit to Ireland we organised an event at our shop and museum. We wanted to offer the public a chance to meet Joel, whilst also giving Joel the opportunity to meet those who are benefiting from Charlotte’s Web.

The shop and museum were packed to capacity with many people wanting a chance to meet Joe. I was pleasantly surprised by the make up of the attendees. The audience was close to 50% female and a significant proportion were over 40 years old. Both are rarities at cannabis/hemp events sadly. This perhaps shows how more families are learning about CBD here in Ireland.

Most in the audience knew of somebody benefiting from CBD. There were stories of children and adults benefiting from CBD for conditions such as epilepsy, MS, cerebral palsy and others. In fact the event got quite emotional at times with the individuals telling their stories sometimes breaking into tears.

One example is when a mother described how her child, who suffers from dravet syndrome, is already improving after only a week using Charlotte’s Web. Many in the room were quite emotional as she described her situation.

It was quite evident that Joel was moved by all these stories. Through a conversation with Joel later in the evening I learned that he hears these touching stories almost everywhere he travels. While presumably it can be emotionally draining one gets the sense these success stories give Joel strength and encouragement.

Joel Stanley speaking about his experiences

These stories raise the question that while CBD is a wonderful compound, just what other benefits would exist if people were also allowed THC? What’s even more evident after the medical cannabis summit is that both CBD and THC have significant roles to play in potentially treating or alleviating certain conditions.

With Gino Kenny’s medical cannabis bill due before the dail in the coming months perhaps we will see Ireland move in the right direction. Sadly, in the meantime many people are denied access to something that could potentially help them. And that stinks. (and that’s putting it nicely)

We would like to thank Joel Stanley and Matt Storey from CW Hemp for participating in our event and we hope to have you back in Ireland again sometime soon.

Matt and Joel enjoying a pint

Thanks to everyone who attended our event and to the staff of the Hemp Company for organising it. Special thanks also to the Juice Heads team who provided lovely hemp food on the day. The hemp burgers were second only to Joel in popularity.

Agata and the Juice Heads team provided hemp food for guests

Steven from Cannabis News Network spent a few days in Ireland for the summit. Make sure to check out his previous videos and keep an eye out on his newest ones. We know he did some marvelous filming which will highlight the issue of hemp and medical cannabis in Ireland. Thanks for visiting us Steven and we are glad to have helped you.

Steven from Cannabis News Network outside our shop

Brian Houlihan is the curator of the Dublin Hemp Museum and regularly writes about hemp. Follow him on Twitter at @dubhempmuseum and@houlihanbrian. You can also find us on Facebook.

You can find an archive of my blog posts here