EBERSBACH / LEUNA Like a field of strong-smelling flowers whose roots have already fallen to the ground. Or a sweet herb growing in moist soil in the heat of the south. Hints of citrus, coriander, even mint.
Immediately at the door of the cannabis grower, warm and thick air hits your face.
The smell is neither good nor bad, but it is strong. Maybe a little hairy too.
The hemp plant, or cannabis, produces about two hundred aroma compounds.
Sometimes the smell is eerie, sometimes it fascinates.
Here, in the yellow light, a total of more than 600 green stems grow, on the ends of which, after four weeks of growth, sticky layers of evaporation have formed.
After about six weeks of cultivation, 80–100 kilos of the final product, i.e. cannabis flowers, can be obtained.
Demecan is Europe’s largest producer of legal cannabis. The company has a valid contract with the German government, and in this batch it delivers its entire production to the authorities. In the future, Demeca will also be allowed to sell cannabis to pharmacies.
Ebersbach and Leuna in central Germany are a sort of European cannabis hub, as two of the three officially licensed farms in Germany are located here. In the coming years, production will multiply.
There aren’t many bright spots in the German economy right now, but the cannabis business seems to have a great future.
Legalization creates business
Until the beginning of April, cannabis was classified as a drug like heroin or ecstasy. Now even private Germans are allowed to grow it at home three plants at a time. You can keep 50 grams of dried flowers at home.
Cannabis for recreational use is strictly regulated for the time being. It can only be obtained from so-called social clubs, which need permits from the authorities.
If you want to purchase cannabis for private use, you must become a member of the club. So tourists cannot buy cannabis.
The first cannabis clubs will start operating in July. Next, Germany plans to launch pilot programs that will test the sale of cannabis more freely for recreational use in a few trial areas.
Cannabis helps with many pains
In the future, cannabis can be used to relieve the symptoms of pain and diseases like any other medicine, CEO of Demecan Philip Goebel describes.
– The doctor can prescribe it like Ibuprofen 600.
It opens up a huge market. According to Goebel, the potential for the development of cannabis-based medicines is extensive. For example, just in February, Demecan brought a new cannabis concentrate to the market, which is practically hashish.
– Cannabis can be used for back pain, insomnia, nerve pain, as well as for alleviating the symptoms of MS, Goebel lists.
You can get a quick effect on big pains from cannabis flowers. However, not all doctors want to prescribe cannabis, and not all pharmacies in Germany sell it. The customer must therefore know where he is doing business.
Almost a million customers
As a result of the new law in Germany, the medical cannabis business will grow in the near future. This is what the social relations manager of another cannabis grower operating in Germany, the Canadian Aurora Cannabis, believes Dirk Heitepriem.
Heitepriem calculates that every hundred Germans would benefit from cannabis as a form of treatment. That means about 840,000 people. There are now less than 200,000 cannabis patients.
– So there is plenty of room to grow. New start-up companies are being born, and now there are around 120 companies working on medical cannabis in Germany, says Heitepriem. He is a member of the board of the association of German cannabis companies.
While the size of the German cannabis market this year is just under a billion euros, it could already grow to several billions in the next few years. For example, in the world’s current number one cannabis market in California the value of the cannabis trade is calculated at just under five billion euros.
In addition to Demecan and Aurora, Tilray from the United States has the official license to grow cannabis. After the new law came into force, many other companies also want to become breeders.
However, according to Heitepriem of the Aurora company, it cannot be done easily, as the quality and safety requirements are tough.
– There is a lot happening in the market, but I believe that we will still see mergers and acquisitions, and not all of them will be successful.
German cannabis is of high quality because the production is so controlled and regulated, company representatives say.
– For example, in Portugal and the Czech Republic, it is enough to build a fence around the property as a security requirement. In Germany, the hygiene requirements are the same as in pharmaceutical factories, says Goebel.
In Canada, the use of cannabis was legalized in 2018, accompanied by supervision and regulation.
Now the state receives more tax revenue there from cannabis than from beer and wine combined, i.e. more than 600 million euros per year.
In Canada, 18-year-olds can possess 30 grams of legally produced cannabis. Households can grow four cannabis plants.
The federal government oversees cannabis production licenses. The counties supervise distribution and sales.
Unlike in Germany, in Canada you can buy cannabis in licensed stores. In Germany, recreational use is therefore more limited.
The police are checking
In Germany, the 24 centimeter thick walls, roof and floor of a cannabis plantation must be made of reinforced concrete by law. The walls are the strongest material that can be found on the market.
For example, Demecan’s farms are monitored by 300 surveillance cameras around the clock. The cameras are also connected to the police station. Not a single cannabis seedling should be lost.
When going to the factory, protective clothing is worn and all loose objects are disinfected. This is how plants are protected from bacteria.
Demecan was born as a startup company founded by a doctor of medicine, a doctor of law and an economist in 2017, when the law allowing medical cannabis was being prepared in Germany.
The founding trio collected initial capital from investors and are now seeking capital in a new funding round so that the company can expand its operations.
According to Goebel, Demecan can increase its cultivation up to 20 times at its current location in Ebersbach near Dresden.
The people of Demecan took the model for their production line from the large tulip and rose farms in Holland. Since cannabis requires different growing conditions, the growing system and software had to be made by ourselves.
Crisis situations have also been taken into account. If the water supply to the factory is interrupted, there is enough water from the spare barrels for several days.
Europe is a big growth market
Aurora Cannabis operates in Europe not only in Germany but also in Poland and Great Britain.
According to Dirk Heitepriem, a historically high amount of cannabis is being imported into Europe now, because markets have been liberalized in different countries.
Next year probably in France allow the sale of medicinal cannabis. According to Heitepriem, relaxation of the law is also planned in Spain and Portugal.
– Growing conditions have improved with experience. We have better genes in the seedlings. In this way, we can get more crops, reduce costs and grow faster, he explains.
For this reason, legal cannabis sold in pharmacies is even cheaper today than illegal cannabis on the gray market.
– After Canada, Germany is the world’s largest medical cannabis market. All in all, Europe is a very large growth market, says Heitepriem.
Heitepriem does not want to push cannabis, but he still conveys his message to Finland, where there are only two cannabis-based prescription drugs on the market.
– Cannabis can really help people suffering from severe pain. It does not cure diseases, but it can improve the quality of life of seriously ill people. Governments should give people the opportunity to get this pain relief, says Heitepriem.