GW Pharma plans to expand marijuana operations in UK

One of the world’s biggest marijuanas companies – GW Phamaceuticals – is poised to get even bigger.

The company announced that it’s planning an expansion in the United Kingdom, including the cultivation and processing of non-psychoactive cannabis, The Telegraph of London reported.

GW Pharma’s plan stems from “anticipated demand” for a CBD-based drug, Sativex, designed to help treat epilepsy, a company official told the newspaper.

The Cambridge, England-based company is planning to invest 50 million British pounds ($64.6 million) on the expansion over the next three years and will hire 70 new staffers to increase its U.K. payroll to 400 employees, The Telegraph reported.

The expansion is predicated on expected U.S. federal approval of Sativex.

GW Pharma also produces a CBD-based, anti-seizure medicine, Epidiolex, that appears to be the first cannabis-based product to obtain a green light from the U.S. government.