Medical cannabis grown in Germany is available for the first time

For the first time, the medical marijuanaal grown in Germany can be bought and sold by local pharmacies, the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) announced Wednesday.

Pharmacies can use the Cansativa Gmbh portal to buy medical marijuana from one of three contract growers, two of which are subsidiaries of Canadian producers Aurora Cannabis and Tilray, respectively, and the other is the German company Demecan.

The three companies have been chosen to grow marijuana in Germany in 2019, after a long-delayed application process, to provide products for the largest medical cannabis market in Europe.

Cansativa, based in Mörfelden-Walldorf, won a tender last year to become the exclusive distributor of all cannabis grown in Germany.

This contract will last four years.

BfArM said it sells cannabis to pharmacies for 4.30 euros per gram.

Contracted production is 10,400 kilograms (22,928 pounds) over a four-year period, but the contracts include a clause that could increase production by 10 % over that period.

Until now, all legal medical cannabis in the country was imported.

While local production will help pharmacies meet demand, the country is expected to need some imports for years to come.

In 2020, the German market imported a record 9,249 kilograms, according to BfArM data.

The German medical cannabis market is growing, but remains small by North American standards.

To put the market in perspective, more cannabis (14,463 kilograms) was redeemed by Veterans Affairs Canada than was imported into Germany last year.

Sources: https://mjbizdaily.com/medical-cannabis-grown-in-germany-available-for-first-time/