Meet Umesh, leafie’s new agony pharmacist

Umesh Chauhan didn’t set out to launch a cannabis dispensing pharmacy; in fact, it almost happened by accident, a journey that started when a client asked him to obtain a licence to import cannabis.

“I’d been their Responsible Person since 2009, dealing with ‘normal’ medicines,” he recalls. “Then in 2018, a client asked me to help them obtain a licence to import cannabis – a first for both of us.”

At that time, the law had just shifted, and the UK medical cannabis industry was, as he puts it, “still more concept than reality.”

What should have been a straightforward licensing process became an odyssey through regulatory confusion.

“On paper, securing the licence should have been straightforward. In reality? Not quite,” he says. “The MHRA and Home Office inspections were long, and politely put, amusing. It  often felt like the blind leading the blind.”

The fundamental problem, he explains, was that medical cannabis existed in a regulatory vacuum. “It did not fit any established mould. It sat in a regulatory no-man’s-land: both a controlled substance and an unlicensed medicine.”

The government’s approach hadn’t helped. “Typically, laws involving healthcare come with long consultations, impact assessments, and detailed guidance. But in 2018, the government – under public pressure – changed the legislation with little more than a brief statement that could have been scribbled on the back of a cigarette packet after a pint at the local.”

We ended up transporting the first shipment via a man in a white van… 60g of Jack Herer cost the client £1,600

By 2019, Umesh finally secured the licence for his client. But then came an unexpected question: what would they actually do with it?

“I asked my client what he planned to do with the product – he had no idea. There was no such thing as a cannabis pharmacy at the time.” That realisation led directly to the founding of Specials Pharma in 2020.

The first import perfectly captured the absurdity of those early days. With no UK supply available, they purchased stock from the Netherlands. But no logistics company would transport cannabis.

“We ended up transporting it via a man in a white van – equipped with every correct document, including the Home Office narcotic import licence, of course,” he says with a laugh.

Then came another regulatory catch-22. “The MHRA took 30 days to approve an import…but controlled drug prescriptions only last 28 days. The prescription would expire before the shipment was approved, let alone delivered.”

Once the MHRA understood the problem, they corrected it quickly. “But it was yet another example of how fragmented the system was.”

That first shipment – a mere 60g of Jack Herer – cost the client £1,600 due to the logistics alone. “Thankfully, today the supply chain has matured, manufacturers have increased, and prices have fallen significantly.”

Over the following years, the industry went through its awkward adolescence. “I have watched pharmacies, clinics, and distributors enter the industry with the wrong mindset or little understanding. Most, including my own organisation, have gone through a steep learning curve and emerged better for it.”

Not all survived. “Some unfortunately have fallen, and I suspect there will be others to follow.”

Patient expectations evolved, too. “Early on, many came from the illicit market and expected same-day hand-offs – sometimes with the enthusiasm of someone waiting for a motorbike courier on a street corner. Today, patients better understand the medical pathway and appreciate the process.”

The improvements have been dramatic. Specials Pharma now ships “95% of orders within two working days (60% in one working day),” and stock-related prescription rewrites have fallen as supply stabilises – achievements that were “difficult if not impossible to achieve in the early days.”

As well as Special Pharma, Umesh has also played a role in launching the first Welsh medical cannabis brand, Blod Pharma, in conjunction with Sam Ashton Canna Clinic Cardiff. The idea for Blod emerged from a conversation in 2023. “The supply chain was fragile, and quality varied wildly. Back then, everyone was still trying to understand what this new industry needed.”

Both brought their own expertise to the table. “I handle the ‘boring’ elements – quality, pharmaceutical compliance, manufacturing, and importation. Sam is the real energy behind the company.”

Their mission was straightforward: “To build a brand of products that put patients at the centre – the foundation of what we value as a pharmacy and a clinic.”

When Blod officially came to life in September, it represented not just a new company but, as Umesh describes, a new philosophy.

“We knew we needed a different approach,” he explains. “Work closely with prescribers and patients to understand which products deliver genuine benefit – and build from there.”

Sam Ashton’s role proved crucial. “Anyone who knows Sam understands her unmatched ability to connect with people, listen deeply, and bring out the insights that matter. This is at the heart of our early success.”

The first product’s rapid sell-out validated that approach. “For both Sam Ashton with Canna Clinic Cardiff and myself with Specials Pharma, this wasn’t just a commercial milestone – it was the culmination of a journey we began in 2018.”

Blod Pharma is “proudly Welsh, a brand grounded in community and collaboration.” They’re already planning their second product and aiming to release a third before mid-next year.

Despite the progress, Umesh remains clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. “Medical cannabis remains in its infancy in the UK. Regulators need time.”

The fundamental issue is that cannabis doesn’t fit into any existing Pharma category. “Medical cannabis is neither fully a ‘conventional’ medicine nor a herbal product; paradoxically, it is both. Other countries recognise this and regulate it as a distinct therapeutic category, with unified oversight across cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and prescribing.”

His prescription for the future is bold: “I firmly believe the UK needs the same: a single, central authority dedicated to medical cannabis working with regulators, rather than piecemeal, unaligned adjustments by separate individual regulators.”

“As one of my favourite business thinkers said, real progress requires revolution, not evolution.”

Want to know more about the medical cannabis prescribing process in the UK? Every month, Umesh answers your questions in his new leafie column, Ask The Pharmacist. Send your questions to askumesh@leafie.co.uk or use the form below.