Cannabis cafes in the Netherlands are to be supplied legally with drugs from regulated producers as part of a trial aimed at tackling the black market.

Under Dutch law, cannabis can be sold over the counter in licensed coffee shops, but it is currently illegal to produce and supply the drug.

The country's loose policy on cannabis has seen criminal enterprises flourish.

From 2021, cafes in 10 cities will get a legal supply of "quality" cannabis as part of a four-year experiment.

Cultivating cannabis is a contentious issue in the Netherlands, a country famous for its liberal drug laws.

owner of the Toermalijn coffee shop in Tilburg said quality control "would be great"

Cafe owners who provide over-the-counter cannabis have long relied on the illegal market for their supply, and industry insiders have accused the government of facilitating a nonsensical backdoor culture.

It is an issue that has often led to large-scale police operations in the country.

How will the experiment work?

The "weed trials" are aimed at providing a controlled and legalised supply of cannabis, making the industry more transparent and testing whether that will free up police officers to focus on other crimes.

The cities chosen, and still to be approved, are: Arnhem, Almere, Breda, Groningen, Heerlen, Hellevoetsluis, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Tilburg and Zaanstad.

As part of the experiment, cannabis will be cultivated by nationally approved growers. The coffee shops in these towns will be obliged to participate: in other words they will no longer be allowed to procure their produce from growers operating under the legal radar.

Cities in which the drug's cultivation will remain unregulated will be monitored and the results will then be compared.

Why did the biggest cities not sign up?

The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam will not take part, primarily over the demand that all coffee shops in the test locations must immediately abandon their illegal suppliers.

Amsterdam has almost 170 cannabis cafes and Mayor Femke Halsema warned last year it would be dangerous if all those buyers abandoned their suppliers simultaneously.

For Derrick Bergman, chairman of the VOC group that promotes cannabis, the trial comes "way too little, way too late".

of the cannabis consumed at Dutch coffee shops is currently imported

"[Cannabis] coffee shops have been around since 1976, the government should have acted before to stop the problems we see today - the criminality, lack of quality control," he told the BBC.

"The four coalition parties are at odds, Christian parties want a total ban, liberals want total legalisation. In the long run it will hopefully lead to a more sensible, pragmatic approach across the country."

What are the rules on cannabis?

• Cannabis has had a "decriminalised" status in the Netherlands since the 1970s
• Small amounts of up to five grams can be bought and sold for recreational use
• This tolerant approach to soft drugs is widely considered an effective means of controlling the market - and limiting criminality
• It also means that the Dutch treasury coffers receive a chunk of cannabis cafes' profits
• The thriving recreational industry alone is expected to be worth €1bn by 2028.

What are risks of legalising supply?

Allowing selected growers to cultivate their own plants for the commercial market has ignited fears that the Netherlands is heading towards "narco state" status - a country dependent on the trade in illegal drugs.

The conservative Telegraaf newspaper has counted 50 drug-related murders in the Netherlands since 2012, nothing close to Mexico or Colombia.

Much of the cannabis grown illegally in the Netherlands is exported. It is unclear whether the chance to do legitimate business with Dutch cannabis cafes will be enough of a draw for those farmers to abandon or divert their lucrative covert operations.

A visit by police and scientists to Canada last year concluded that crime did not immediately fall after legalisation, although the findings were contested.

What's the view from the coffee shop?

Willem, who runs the Toermalijn coffee shop in the southern Dutch city of Tilburg, said the implementation of quantity and quality control "would be great for us".

"But if the government make us pay more, then our customers will be charged more, and then they'll just go to the black market," he said.

"Keeping the market price is critical to the success of this experiment."

tomers smoke at the Toermalijn coffee shop in the Dutch city of Tilburg

Asked how black-market dealers would react, he expected some would be "mad or disappointed".

"They'll see we're forced into it. Maybe it will just encourage them to get licences. But it depends how able the growers are to meet our demand."

However, he pointed out the experiment failed to provide any solution for hashish, a form of the drug made from cannabis resin.

"What we sell always comes from abroad. So where are we meant to get our hash if we can't get it from Morocco, Afghanistan or Lebanon?

"We don't have the ability to produce the same quality. It's like asking people to switch from wine to whisky. Most of our customers prefer foreign hash and weed from Thailand and Jamaica. It's hard to find Dutch alternatives, especially in such a short time."

Cannatrek Ltd recently revealed it had received planning permission from the Greater Shepparton City Council to build a $160 million medicinal cannabis production facility.

Cannatrek is part of the CANNATREK Group, which is deploying an end-to-end industry blueprint, to provide a streamlined progression into the cannabis agri-tech industry, which reduces growth risk, maximises market share and targets high value-added wellness & medicinal cannabis products.

The facility, just outside of Shepparton, Victoria will be one of the world’s largest medicinal cannabis facilities and Cannatrek is already making its mark globally, having partnered with Canada's TSE listed $334.6 million capped Canntrust:

While its primary function will be to provide medical cannabis to the broader community, it will also help to further boost Shepparton’s economy.

Greater Shepparton sits at the heart of the ‘food bowl of Australia’ and is responsible for producing high quality fruit, vegetables and agricultural goods. Essentially, it has the ideal climate and environment for food production, which should translate to non-food crops.

The region’s agricultural strength is a key reason for Cannatrek’s presence there. It is water abundant, enjoys long hours of sunlight and has a population with significant skills in agri-technology:

“We believe that the region will become a major centre for the production of medicinal cannabis. We are delighted that the local council is so enthusiastic about our project,” said Tommy Huppert, CEO of Cannatrek.

“We will be a major employer and there will be significant and positive knock-on effects in the region. We are now preparing the development to build a scalable project and we have received planning permission for the entire project.”

Construction of the facility and the facility itself is expected to create more than 400 jobs a year for the Greater Shepparton area and beyond.

The facility will be built on 178 acres of land purchased by Cannatrek and will include a 160,000m2 growing area under a giant high-technology glasshouse. When operating at full production, Canntrek aims to produce 160 tonnes of medicinal cannabis per year.

“Getting local planning approval has been a huge step for us; with the development assistance that we are getting from the Victorian Government, we are confident that we can be a major low-cost producer of medicinal cannabis for Australian patients, as well as for world markets,” Huppert said.

“Our aim is to cultivate, process and manufacture affordable medicinal cannabis as a clean, green, therapeutic product of choice for hundreds of thousands of patients in Australia and overseas.”

Looking after people’s health

Cannatrek estimates that 300,000 to 500,000 Australians buy cannabis on the black market each year in order to self-medicate. There are several reasons for this, not least that medical cannabis trials are ongoing and important cannabis is expensive and therefore out of reach for some who need it.

Australia is moving forward. It is a slow process, but progress is being made.

As of July 2019, authorities in Australia have granted approximately 11,500 approvals, under the Special Access Scheme, for the legal use of medicinal cannabis, with almost 10,500 of those authorisations being approved in the last 12 months alone. The billion-dollar Australian medicinal cannabis industry is forecasting significant growth to an estimated 20,000+ approvals by the end of 2019.

Cannatrek holds eight licences to commercialise a seed-to-patient business in Australia. It has completed commissioning of its Queensland site, near Brisbane, for full R&D and commercial production to begin shortly, making it a first mover, at scale, in the Australian industry.

It has also moved to define itself as a healthcare specialist, having launched Cannahealth, a free medicinal cannabis advisory service founded to deal with the large volume of enquiries from medical professionals and the general public, regarding medicinal cannabis in Australia.

It is no secret that patient access to information is scarce and average doctor education is still evolving, with some doctors still sceptical.

Cannahealth’s intention is to empower patients with current and peer-reviewed information to share with their physician and help navigate the challenging Special Access Scheme administered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Cannahealth also provides patients with a free “find a doctor” service by which patients can find a medicinal cannabis specialist in their area to provide them informed medical advice and treatment options. The company can assist patients by connecting them with Telehealth clinics that can provide them with medical advice and services ensuring that medicinal cannabis can be accessed by patients across 87% of continental Australia.

Cannahealth will also provide doctors with information about the legislative framework surrounding medicinal cannabis in Australia as well as facilitating RACPG certified courses to increase the knowledge base of physicians to increase the level of care their patients receive.

As the industry grows, Cannahealth expects to take a leading position in market education. In the meantime, via Cannatek, it will look to expand its footprint as a high-valued medical cannabis exporter.

In June 2019, the Federal Council has submitted a proposal suggesting that medicinal cannabis in Switzerland should be made legal.

Over recent years, Switzerland has “been relatively progressive on cannabis, including the legalisation of cannabis with no more than 1% THC.” For example, this level of legal THC percentage, although it has to be less than 1%, this is still considerably in more than other countries – medicinal cannabis in Switzerland differs as in most other European countries legal THC limit is 0.2%.

However, despite this, it has been argued that “the Swiss medical program has been restrictive, forcing patients to get special authorisation from the Federal Office of Public Health. Even with that approval, patients could only get cannabis tinctures and oil, not flower, from a very limited number of dispensaries. Currently, only about 3,000 authorisations have been granted”.

The Federal Council – facilitating access to medical cannabis

On the 26th June 2019, the Federal Council released a statement stating that they had put in a draft amendment to facilitate access to medical cannabis treatment. The Federal Council refers to the collective head of state of Switzerland.

The amendment proposes that medical cannabis should be made fully legal, “allowing patients to directly get approval from their doctor. The proposal would ‘lift the ban on the circulation of medical cannabis in the law on narcotics,’ making the ‘cultivation, processing and trade of medical cannabis’ possible within the framework of the control system provided by Swissmedic, the country’s drug regulatory agency.” The proposal also suggested that the government should “allow prescriptions for cannabis to treat people suffering from cancer or other serious conditions”.

If approved, the proposal would “replace the current system, in which those seeking medical cannabis must apply for an exception from the Federal Health Office to get what is otherwise an illegal drug. Marijuana is sometimes used to help cancer patients manage chronic pain, to help boost their appetites, and to reduce spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis.”

In accordance with this, Switzerland’s drug regulatory agency, Swissmedic, noted that the “growing and processing medical cannabis, as well as its sale, would then be possible under a system regulated.”

The current exemption permit

In Switzerland, since 2011, it has been “possible to prescribe medicinal cannabis, but there are high barriers to overcome. Patients have to apply for an exemption permit from the Federal Ministry of Health (BAG).

“In many cases the treatment is delayed, which is why the Federal Council wants to lift the ban on selling medicinal cannabis. In addition, the BAG wants to check whether, in future, the official health insurance funds might reimburse the costs of the treatment.”

However, it should be mentioned that the government has noted that the proposed changes do face challenges; “The biggest obstacle to automatic reimbursement is that the scientific evidence of efficacy is not yet sufficient, and the conclusions of existing studies are sometimes contradictory. […] The Federal Health Office will launch an evaluation project to help answer questions about whether the drug is an effective remedy and, if so, for what conditions.”

The only Swiss pharmacy that stocks medical cannabis

Currently, there is only one pharmacy in Switzerland which stocks medical cannabis which is in the small town ‘Langnau.’ According to the BBC: “Each patient prescribed it by a doctor must also get a special permit from the Swiss Federal Health Office, and pharmacist Daniela Eigenmann must have a permit for each prescription. Daniela points out that cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. “In 2,700 BC, a Chinese emperor used it against malaria, and rheumatism,” she says.

‘”I think it should be available. It’s not a miracle cure, it won’t help everyone, but patients should have the opportunity to have it.” Cannabis to smoke is not prescribed in Switzerland, though some German doctors, unable to access the oils and tinctures, prescribe cannabis flowers which can be smoked.

“Most of Daniela’s patients take the cannabis oil or tincture for chronic pain. Some are para- or tetraplegic and suffer agonising spasms or have multiple sclerosis, others, like Bernadette Niklaus, have suffered a lifetime of pain [from sclerosis]. After spending years on various strong painkillers, Bernadette’s doctor suggested she try a cannabis tincture.

“Bernadette takes five drops of the medicine, three times a day. She needs two small bottles a month and has had to argue for support from her health insurance company: each bottle costs around $500 (~€437), and some companies refuse to cover the cost. She fears that if the law is not both relaxed and clarified, she and patients like her could lose access to medicinal cannabis and might even be forced to get it illegally.”

Furthermore, “Although health insurance does not assist in the purchase of these products, patients have access to CBD, which can treat many debilitating conditions. They have also approved the prescription of Sativex and dronabinol, two cannabis-based medications.”

References

1. https://www.theextract.co.uk/switzerland-close-to-legalising-medicinal-cannabis/
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarabrittanysomerset/2018/08/26/the-top-three-most-overlooked-marijuana-markets/#4e2e2b5d55c2
3. https://www.admin.ch/gov/fr/accueil/documentation/communiques.msg-id-75582.html
4. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-cannabis/switzerland-aims-to-legalise-medical-marijuana-idUSKCN1TR13N
5. https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/switzerland-good-news-for-cannabis-consumers/
6. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45363471
7. https://www.marijuanadoctors.com/international-patients/switzerland-qualifications/

The hemp fields sprouting in a part of Canada best known for its giant oil patch show how climate change is disrupting the construction industry.

Six years after setting up shop in the shadow of Calgary’s tar sands, Mac Radford, 64, says he can’t satisfy all the orders from builders for Earth-friendly materials that help them limit their carbon footprints. His company, JustBioFiber Structural Solutions, is on the vanguard of businesses using hemp -- the boring cousin of marijuana devoid of psychoactive content -- to mitigate the greenhouse gases behind global warming.

Around the world, builders are putting modern twists into ancient construction methods that employ the hearty hemp weed. Roman engineers used the plant’s sinewy fibers in the mortar they mixed to hold up bridges. More recently, former White House adviser Steve Bannon weighed in on using so-called hempcrete to build walls. Early results indicate it’s possible to tap demand for cleaner alternatives to cement.

“We have way more demand than we can supply,” said Radford from his plant in Airdrie, which is undergoing expansion and soon expects to churn out enough Lego-like hemp bricks each year to build 2,000 homes.

Greener alternatives to cement add to the pressure on companies including LafargeHolcim Ltd. and Votorantim Cimentos SA as the global economy pivots toward dramatically lower emissions.

Cement makers are responsible for about seven per cent of global carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere every year, with copious volumes entering via limestone kilns needed to produce the material. Manufacturers say they’ve struggled to find markets for greener alternatives, giving easy entree to entrepreneurs like Radford who cater to customers concerned about their impact on the Earth.

“They love it once they understand it,” said Radford of the builders who’ve adopted the modular, inter-locking bricks he invented for their projects. “Our old practices we have to change.”

While architects and developers have traditionally concentrated on the energy used by their buildings once they’re are standing, it’s actually the materials required in their construction that represent the brunt of a structure’s lifetime carbon footprint. Replacing high-carbon-intensity materials like cement with greener alternatives like hemp can dramatically reduce or even offset greenhouse gas pollution.

Hemp fields absorb carbon when they’re growing. After harvest, the crop continues to absorb greenhouse gases as it’s mixed with lime or clay. Hempcrete structures also have better ventilation, fire resistance and temperature regulation, according to their proponents.

Numbers across the industry vary depending on the process, but JustBioFiber says that its hemp captures 130 kilograms (287 pounds) of carbon dioxide for each cubic meter it builds. Those structures made with their bricks will sequester more greenhouse gases than they emit in production. By contrast each ton of cement produced emits half a ton of carbon dioxide, according to the European Cement Association.

First developed in France more than 30 years ago, hempcrete was initially used for renovating old houses since it mixed well with stone and lime. That has progressed to new build homes, offices and municipal buildings some as tall as seven floors, according to Quentin Pichon, founder of CAN-Ingenieurs Architectes who specialize in hempcrete buildings.

Hemp growth in France has grown by fifth in the last decade as a result of an increase in its construction use but also because seeds from the plant that can be used to make cannabidol, he said. Hemp sales in Canada could hit US$1 billion within five years from US$140 million last year, according to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

That ability to quickly ramp-up local cultivation virtually anywhere in the world is one of hemp’s appeals, according to Alex Sparrow, the managing director of U.K. Hempcrete.

“Demand is rising steadily but we need to accelerate this as currently the U.K. construction industry accounts for approximately seven per cent of GDP and 50 per cent of total U.K. carbon emissions,” Sparrow said.

One of the principle challenges his U.K. company faces are legal hurdles imposed on hemp cultivation -- British farmers can only grow hemp building materials but can’t profit from the oil extracted from seeds.

Back near Calgary, the black denim-clad Radford is already turning a profit from his hemp venture and is preparing to invest another C$37 million ($28 million) to expand production to 3.5 million bricks a year. He credits his children with convincing him to go green after four decades in commercial development.

“They think that finally it’s not about money, it’s about doing good for the planet,” he said.