After traveling in Europe for two years in search of the ideal place for the cultivation of cannabis, the director of the company chose the city of Cantanhede
Indeed, after traveling all over Europe from 2015 to 2017 in search of the perfect place to create impressive marijuana growing facilities, RB, executive director of one of the most important Canadian companies, decided on Cantahede, a city with 392 , 18 km² of area and 37911 inhabitants, located in the center-north of Portugal.
This city now houses the first medical cannabis production farm in Portugal, a European center created to meet the growing demand for marijuana.
The climate of Cantahede is similar to that of California and, although this fact was decisive for the election, BK affirms that he liked the agricultural tradition of the area and the large number of young farmers qualified for the cultivation of cannabis.
The facilities occupy an area of 2.4 hectares (5.9 acres) located on the outskirts of Cantanhede. The Canadian project received the approval of the Portuguese regulator, Infarmed, in 2017. Immediately the Canadian company began to bring the first cuttings and recently reported on the high quality of its first two crops.
The main competitors of this Canadian company are in Denmark and northern Germany, where there is not much sun. Therefore, these companies have to cultivate in more limited conditions. Consequently, the Canadian company hope to get a marijuana of higher quality, higher production and more respectful with the environment.
On the other hand, Portugal has the great advantage of offering a duty-free entry to the rest of the European Union countries, a market that this Canadian company wants to access at a time when an increasing number of European governments are legalizing medical marijuana.
Marijuana has gone from being a forbidden drug to a substance with medicinal properties. The Canadian company is convinced that in the next two years all European countries will legalize medical cannabis.
Last year, the Portuguese parliament approved a bill to legalize marijuana-based drugs, following in the footsteps of European Union countries such as Italy and Germany, as well as Canada and some states of the United States. Great Britain also approved medical cannabis in July 2018.
The installation has cost 22.29 million dollars. This includes outdoor growing areas, outdoor greenhouses, processing laboratories, places for the packaging and distribution of medicinal cannabis and cannabinoid by-products.
At present, this Canadian company supplies medicinal cannabis products with CBD and THC to patients in different countries, through its subsidiaries in Australia, Canada, Germany and Latin America, and through agreements with pharmaceutical distributors.
Earlier this year, the European Parliament called for the creation of a common policy on medicinal cannabis in the European Union and a properly funded scientific research.
On July 18, 2018, Law no. 33/2018 legalized in Portugal the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. The new law estimated that the regulation would be issued 60 days after the publication of the law. Unfortunately, almost 6 months later, on January 15, 2019, Decree-Law no. 8/2019 was released.
The issue is very complex and the reality is that even qualified patients to be treated with cannabis in Portugal struggle tremendously to access medicinal cannabis.
Recreational marijuana in Portugal
The Left Bloc (BE) and People-Animals-Nature (PAN) have debated the legalization of cannabis for recreational use, in the form of bills submitted to the Portuguese parliament in early January 2019.
The BE demanded that sales be made while PAN believed that sales should take place exclusively in Pharmacies, where there are qualified professionals.
The BE bill provided for the legalization of cannabis for non-medicinal personal use. If approved, the law would also regulate aspects of production and cultivation, marketing, acquisition, detention and consumption of plants or cannabis derivatives. But unfortunately, the law was not approved.
