Tag: Europe

The discussion has moved forward increasingly faster this year, in large part after September because of the new German government’s decision to enact federal recreational reform as of 2022

In every revolution, there is a tipping point in time – and on the topic of recreational cannabis reform and Europe, this is indeed that moment.

Significant reform is now in the offing in several European countries, beyond Switzerland, starting of course, with Germany. The pace-setting country is in this space in part because of its population and rich economy. It is also clear because of recent political developments that include the decision in 2017 to move forward on federal medical reform as well as the newly announced decision by the newly formed Traffic Light Coalition to enact recreational reform as early as next year.

Beyond Germany, of course, there have been, particularly in the last quarter of the year, significant announcements, and progress reports all over Europe. Malta just announced that they are in fact the first mover on a recreational market in the EU, with Luxembourg likely to be a hair’s whisker behind with a market that at least at first, looks remarkably similar.

Portugal is also not out for the count – with a government snap election pushing back the inevitability of reform here as well – now almost certain to be reintroduced next year if only to keep pace with the Germans. Italy is also likely to move forward with at least a reform that allows home grow if not like Luxembourg and Malta, the public sale of seeds.

In the Czech Republic, the increased blending of medical and recreational markets (namely the use of GACP rather than GMP cannabis in the medical market) is also a model that is likely to have some kind of impact on blended markets going forward. See Switzerland as the prime European example of the same, even if not in the EU.

Do not forget that Greece is still also moving forward on the development of its medical market, as is neighbour to the north, North Macedonia.

Spain is also likely to finally move forward on some kind of regulation of its coffee shop trade, particularly as Holland also moves, however slowly and painfully, to a national model of regulatory reform and procedure.

Denmark is also likely to announce the details of its own recreational trial too, especially as the medical market continues to take shape.

In short, 2021 has been much like the U.S. in 2012 where two American states – Colorado and Washington State, voted to create recreational markets. The difference, of course, is that all this reform in Europe is of the federal kind. 

Regional Reform & The Outliers

There are still a few larger fights on the horizon, both on the sovereign and then of course regional level. Outliers even in the medical discussion include not just France but Poland as well as other countries particularly in the eastern part of the region.

On a regional level, expect recreational reform to move far more slowly. There is still wide disagreement on the implementation of this kind of guidance even in the low THC, hemp market. 

Regardless, the cannabis genie is out of the bottle here, as of this year. And no matter when actual sales now begin to happen, it will never be stuffed back.

Be sure to keep abreast of developments in Europe by attending one of the International Cannabis Business Conference events in Europe in 2022!

Nick Clegg, the former Liberal Democratic leader, calls for legalization in the UK, following global trends

Citing the German and American cannabis market reforms, Nick Clegg, the former British Prime Minister, has now gone public with his support for cannabis legalization in the UK. In doing so, he is joining other public figures globally including four Nobel Laureates, in calling for a radical overhaul of not just British but global cannabis policy. Indeed, leaders from countries including New Zealand (former PM Helen Clark), Columbia (former president Juan Manuel Santos), Switzerland (Ruth Dreifuss, former president) and others have also added their voices of support in a new report called Time to End Prohibition.

Clegg’s comments come not only just after the momentous news that Germany’s new government will move forward on recreational reform as early as next year and as the UK unveils a new Ten-Year Strategy to combat drug crime and related issues that will target users and dealers with a hefty price tag of about $330 million.

Time For a Global Change

There is clearly a renewed call for such reforms now that Germany, Europe’s largest economy has announced a forward motion on the legalization topic as of next year. 

Further, as the debate continues to escalate (including at the UN level), there is a clear trade-off emerging in policy approaches to reform. Many countries, now cash-strapped because of Covid, are looking at the cannabis sector to create economic development opportunities.

The UK, while behind other countries is unlikely to sit this one out for the long term. Starting with the fact that despite onerous cannabis policies, the UK is still a cannabis exporting country.

International vs. Sovereign Reform

For the last ten years, cannabis reform has been very much a sovereign discussion. However, with Europe now entering the fray on a regional level and multiple countries around the world putting at least medical reform on the front burner, the conversation has clearly shifted. Further, the Covid Pandemic has also clearly shown the industry is an essential one – and further one that so far, has proven to be, if not Pandemic Proof, growing despite the global health crisis.

It is undoubtedly easier for those out of office now to lead the call for political change – but as Germany has shown this is also beginning to shift – particularly as new governments come into power. Indeed, Germany is not the first coalition government to enter office on the promise of cannabis reform. See Luxembourg in 2018.

However, the fact that so many former leaders are now calling on those who replaced them to move the conversation forward is just another sign that the globe is moving in a green direction and will certainly not turn back.

The International Cannabis Business Conference returns to Europe in 2022! Stay tuned.

A trend is developing – Italy, Luxembourg and now Malta, are on the verge of “recreational reform” that only allows for the personal cultivation of a limited number of cannabis plants. Is this the new “normal” until Germany leads the way?

If there is such a thing as a “trend” afoot in the European recreational cannabis reform discussion, then this is clearly one. Home grow is a hot topic in multiple European countries right now that are all publicly claiming to be implementing “recreational reform.” 

This is of course a huge irony considering not quite so recent developments. Namely, of course, that just as the Swiss are gearing up to launch their rec trial in 2022, Germany will probably legalize some kind of commercial marketplace and infrastructure, even if they kick the can down the road for a market start. Furthermore, it is precisely because the Germans did NOT want to tangle with the issue of patient home growing for medical use that the Bundestag passed the medical reform bill they did in 2017.

How four years ago. Not to mention, how much has changed.

In Germany right now, despite rising patient numbers, the pushback from the insurers and MDK is still considerable, in part because of the cost of cannabis treatment (still, sadly) and because cannabis is still considered a “drug of last resort.” Patients who cannot prove this, of course, are in the deep end of hell.

This is why the revived European home grow trend is so interesting. It also means that there will probably be some kind of home grow provision in the German recreational reform language. There must be. Nobody wants to penalize patients who still cannot get prescribing doctors or healthcare approval.

Regardless, this is a very, very interesting trend indeed. It means that there will be a huge interest in the mom-and-pop grassroots, even if such efforts have little chance of becoming legit. The Canadian model, for starters, showed that the commercial market’s largest competitor was patients.

The fact that this trend is now starting to take place in Europe is also a testament to the perhaps late realization by the powers that be that if medical reform takes place, there is little to stop the ball from rolling forward, starting with the fact that those who are sick and cannot get the drug any other way, will also almost always resort to “other” channels to get the only drug that seems to make a difference. 

With a focus on stamping out the black market, this also then pushes the discussion, in European countries right now at any rate, into a gentle slope that may start with home grow but in fact is a tipping point for full and final reform.

Be sure to keep up with European cannabis business trends – attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe next spring and summer.

Several countries have decided to delay their plans for recreational markets – apparently in response to the German national elections

In a strange response apparently to the results of the German elections, both Portugal and Luxembourg have just announced delays and review of their decisions and legislation to move to recreational markets. 

In Portugal, the pending adult market legislation has now been put on hold for at least the next sixty days. In Luxembourg, the ruling government, which promised as part of its mandate to create a recreational market in the country by 2023 is now sending signals that it wishes to delay the same because of potential clashes with European law. Note: this has not stopped the Dutch from proceeding with the region’s first nationally regulated adult-use market – which is another reason for believing that the excuse just given in Luxembourg is nothing more than a political cover story to give the new ruling German coalition a chance to think about their position. Even the decriminalization of cannabis here will make it impossible for anyone at the EU level to object to recreational markets on a country-by-country basis. Indeed, the last decision about the scheduling of cannabis at the UN level was specifically to allow individual countries to come to their own decisions about the same.

No matter what, however, recreational reform has suddenly become a hot topic in Europe. 

As Goes Holland?

One of the more interesting issues raised by the Luxembourgian decision is that while the official recreational market may be delayed, citizens may well gain the right of home grow. This would create its own ripple across the cannabis landscape in a way that might also begin to change the discussion (a la Italy) and further in a way that would be good for patients and adult users even if it does not directly create a formal industry.

Beyond this, of course, any discussions of European objections to expanding on a country-by-country basis, adult use markets, will have to overcome the problem of Holland. There is clearly no going back, although the steps forward may be stranger if not even sideways than anyone can yet foresee.

Regardless, the topic of adult-use is now clearly in the air – and the odour of Europe is absolutely getting danker.

Stay tuned for more news and information from the International Cannabis Business Conference.

The hemp industry is booming across the globe. Many international farmers have cultivated the hemp plant for years for the purpose of creating textiles, however, in recent years many hemp farmers have cultivated the plant for another purpose – CBD.

Hemp farmers, especially new ones, are scrambling to produce as much raw hemp to sell to companies that will take the raw biomass and turn it into CBD oil and other CBD products.

Many countries have updated their laws recently to permit legal hemp cultivation and to try to distinguish hemp cannabis from non-hemp cannabis.

The legal difference between the two cannabis varieties hinges on a THC threshold. If the cannabis tests above the THC threshold, then it is legally deemed to not be hemp, and if it tests below the THC threshold then it is legally considered to be hemp.

Members of the European Parliament recently voted to raise the THC limit in its policies, as reported by Hemp Today:

The European Parliament has voted in favor of increasing the authorized THC level for industrial hemp “on the field” from 0.2% to 0.3%, a critical step in the process of re-establishing that level of THC for European hemp.

The proposal, long advocated by the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), was included in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform adopted by the Parliament today.

“This is an historic moment for our industry, for our farmers, for a green future and for all Europeans,” said EIHA President Daniel Kruse. “Finally, the EU has a level playing field again with the global industrial hemp sector.”

While it is good to see the THC threshold increased, a 0.3% THC threshold is still very low. Many hemp industry observers have stated publicly that a threshold of 1% makes more sense.

For instance, Switzerland has a hemp THC limit of 1% that applies to CBD products sold within its borders.

Despite having a THC threshold that is over 3 times greater than many other countries, including the United States which also has a 0.3% limit, Switzerland has not experienced any issues.

Does the expected WHO decision on cannabis this December have anything to do with it?

A funny thing is happening across Covid-stressed Europe. Governments are either inching forwards reluctantly on aspects of the cannabis question, or they are being challenged to change the law in court. Regardless, it is clear that cannabis is on the agenda, even if reluctantly, just about everywhere.

Indeed in the last month, these individual developments have inched forwards across the continent:

Spain: The Canary Islands Parliament just voted to move full reform forwards. While far off the Spanish mainland if not far from Catalonia (the Spanish autonomous “state” that is also home of Barcelona aka home of the vast majority of cannabis clubs), and closer to the coast of Africa than Madrid, this small archipelago of 4 million people could well help put pressure on the central Spanish government to finally begin to federally regulate the industry at all levels. In the meantime, one of the heroes of the club movement is challenging the legitimacy of the federal Spanish law in European Human Rights Court.

Italy: Quietly published in August, the Agriculture Ministry has included the extract of hemp flower in an official list of agricultural products that can be used for medical purposes.

France: On October 7, the French released news of the much-promised medical trial finally being instituted in the country no later than March 31, 2021, and to run for a period of two years. This comfortably puts any French cannabis experiment absolutely in line with one apparently established internationally by globally moving forces. See the UN.

European Countries Seem To Be Aligning With A Medical Outlook

With the increased formalization of the German market (namely BfArM has now chosen a distributor for domestically produced crops), the writing is absolutely on the wall that at a diplomatic, nosebleed level, countries across Europe have now absolutely fallen into line on accepting cannabis as a legitimate medical plant if not product.

This is a victory, no matter how incomplete. For those who remember the days before 2016, no matter how slow change has sometimes seemed, it is also one achieved in almost record time, all things considered. 

The Next Steps

There is nobody in the industry, let alone those who seek to regulate and shape it externally, who believes that this is all “over.” Even after the WHO makes what is widely predicted to be its landmark announcement in December. 

Too many patients remain outside care. And both hemp and recreational reform beyond that are now also absolutely on the horizon, no matter how many years and countless fights remain.

Be sure to book your tickets to the only European cannabis industry conference that keeps you up to date if not on the cusp of developing trends across the industry. The International Cannabis Business Conference returns to Europe in 2021!