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Source: AFP
At an undisclosed tract successful Germany's Bavaria state, pharmaceutical CEO Philip Schetter opens a 75-centimetre (30-inch) heavy alloy doorway that secures his wares: immense amounts of cannabis.
"Better harmless than sorry," helium says during a sojourn to the compound tally by Cantourage, a shaper and distributor of cannabis-based medicinal products.
Marijuana has been partially legalised successful Germany, but the steadfast fears its wares from arsenic acold arsenic Jamaica, Uganda and New Zealand could marque it an charismatic people for criminals.
"We are committed to the highest information standards -- for our employees arsenic good arsenic for our products," Schetter told AFP.
Source: AFP
Inside the facility, unit wearing surgical gowns, hairnets and look masks were engaged utilizing tiny scissors to chopped up dried cannabis flowers.
The brownish-green buds are utilized to relieve chronic symptom and slumber disorders, dainty definite forms of epilepsy and connection enactment for cancer, HIV and palliative attraction patients.
Medical cannabis has been a boon for the Berlin-based institution whose website slogan says "we emotion cannabis" and whose Frankfurt Stock Exchange ticker awesome is "HIGH".
Last twelvemonth it booked gross of 51.4 cardinal euros, a 118 percent summation connected 2023.
The institution with 70 unit says it allows producers to participate the European aesculapian cannabis marketplace by processing and distributing their dried flowers and extracts.
Competitors see the Netherlands' Bedrocan and Canada's Aurora, which besides grows cannabis.
Source: AFP
In Germany, the pungent greenish works has been disposable with a medicine since 2017.
One payment of laboratory-tested and certified aesculapian cannabis is clarity astir its origin, processing way and progressive constituent content, said Schetter.
"If I went to the achromatic market, the prime would beryllium alternatively constricted and I would beryllium fixed anything, without knowing what it contains," helium said. "And often the merchandise is contaminated. You whitethorn adjacent uncertainty that it is cannabis."
'Frosted Cookies'
Source: AFP
Cantourage markets its medicines successful eye-catching ways, naming them aft their cannabis strains.
Among its products are "Frosted Cookies", "Lemon Berry Candy" and "Chemdawg", implicit with colourful stickers that assistance physique marque loyalty adjacent if they bash not look connected the packaging.
"Classical pharma firms bash classical pharma marketing," Schetter said. "We're conscionable young and creative," helium added, noting that the boundaries betwixt recreational and medicinal drugs are sometimes "blurred".
"You can reason astir erstwhile a merchandise is recreational and erstwhile it is medicinal," helium said. "Cannabis helps successful the attraction of definite symptoms."
Most European nations person legalised medicinal cannabis successful immoderate form, but Germany has much wide rules than most.
Source: AFP
The erstwhile centre-left authorities past twelvemonth made it easier to get cannabis connected prescription. It besides legalised possession of up to 25 grams for personal, non-medical usage and allowed households to turn up to 3 marijuana plants.
"The alteration successful the instrumentality meant tons of people became alert for the archetypal clip that you tin get cannabis from the chemist without being gravely ill," Schetter said. "That led to a surge successful demand."
Pharmacies filled implicit 1,000 percent much cannabis prescriptions successful December 2024 than they did the erstwhile March, earlier the instrumentality was loosened, according to Bloomwell, an online level that puts patients successful interaction with doctors for cannabis treatment.
'Shame for country'
Source: AFP
The ineligible alteration did not enactment everyone successful precocious spirits, slightest of each Germany's blimpish caller Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who during the predetermination run demanded the legalisation beryllium reversed.
His ally, Bavarian premier Markus Soeder, past twelvemonth charged that the loosening of the instrumentality was a "shame for the country" and vowed his authorities would use the instrumentality "as strictly arsenic possible".
Since Merz agreed to stock powerfulness with the centre-left Social Democrats, his conjugation authorities has taken a softer line, pledging lone an "open-ended evaluation" of the issue.
Schetter said helium was relaxed astir the pending review, telling AFP that "we're funny to spot what comes retired of this".
He acknowledged that "regulatory hazard does travel up arsenic a taxable from clip to time" successful his talks with investors.
Source: AFP
But adjacent a reversal of the latest alteration to the instrumentality should permission Cantourage's business exemplary intact, Schetter said.
"We are a pharmaceutical company. We marque medicines and present them to chemists."
He adjacent dared to imagination that the reappraisal could spell the different way, meaning "further steps volition beryllium taken to crook partial legalisation into afloat legalisation".
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Source: AFP
