Doncaster teacher quits classroom to sell cannabis products

Octavian Vasilescu qualified as a maths teacher after moving to Yorkshire when he married a woman from the area, working at both Balby and Rawmarsh in Rotherham.

But he left after deciding he wanted a change in career, initially getting a job with a wine company.

Now, after seeing the rising profile of cannabis oil as a medical treatment in conditions including epilepsy, he has packed that in to concentrate on selling items made from industrial hemp.

No one will be getting high from his products – they are made of the legal strain of the hemp plant, which contains only trace levels of the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

The 42-year-old has three degrees – one in European studies from Romania, one in marketing from Italy, and a British PGCE teachers qualification.

He said: “I had been working in the wine industry, but I came to realise that cannabis products – legal cannabis products – have a wealth of benefits.

“There are drugs for epilepsy and the relief of some of the symptoms of cancer treatments that are cannabis based and that are medically prescribed. I’m on a mission to educate people on the benefit of hemp oil.”

Mr Vasilescu stresses he is not a doctor and that people should seek medical advice for medical problems.

But he believes hemp oil is good for healing as it is similar to natural pain killing chemicals in the body.

Now he has gone into business at the Goose Hill Market at Doncaster Market, next to the fish market. As well as the oils, he is selling anything made from hemp, under the banner of The Hempman.

Hemp figures were traditionally used to make rope.

He is now selling items including hemp clothing, and bags made of the fibre. He even sells crisps made of the stuff.

“It is a hard wearing crop, and it needs less water to process than cotton,” he said.

“I decided to open a shop here in Doncaster because people want to know more about it. They want a place where they can ask questions. People come to me now wishing me good luck, because hemp has been talked about behind closed doors in recent years. They are glad they come here instead of going to Cleethorpes or waiting two weeks for an internet order from America.”

From a business point of view, he sees it as a market that is not satutated.

But he says he would like to see more people coming to the market.