Sativa Investments PLC (LON: SATI) has appointed Joseph Colliver FCA as Chief Financial Officer and a Director.

Colliver has held past directorships and partnerships in Headlight Vision Limited and Henley Centre Headlight Vision Ltd. With his new appointment at Sativa Investments, he has been granted 3,350,000 share options at 1.5p.

Sativa Investments is the UK’s first medicinal cannabis investment vehicle. The company focuses on the production, testing and compliance, research and development, including pharmacology, commercialisation and sales and marketing of Medicinal Cannabis.

Sativa Investments also aims to drive the research and development of cannabis products by funding university research grants of medicinal cannabis through its Sativa Foundation.

Currently, Sativa Investments has four investments. Canada-based Veritas Pharma Inc., Toronto-based Rapid Dose Therapeutics Inc., UK-based CBD products provider George Botanicals and PhytoVista.

Commenting on the company’s new CFO appointment, founder and CEO of Satvia Investments, Geremy Thomas, has said: “With four investments to date and a pipeline of potential investments at varying stages of review, the Company needs an experienced, strategically-thinking full-time finance head.”

Medicinal cannabis was legalised in the UK earlier this year. After being advised by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, doctors will be permitted to prescribe medicinal cannabis for its therapeutic benefits within months. Products will only be prescribed provided they meet safety standards.

Recent studies have shown that cannabis can be useful for the treatment of chronic pain, spasticity, nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy and drug-resistant epilepsy, just to name a few conditions.

Forbes have recently recorded that spending on legal cannabis worldwide is expected to hit $57 billion by 2027. North America will be home to the largest group of cannabis buyers, going from $9.2 billion in 2017 to $47.3 billion a decade later. However, the largest growth is predicted to be in the rest-of-world markets. Figures in this area are predicted to rise from $52 million spent in 2017 to $2.5 billion.