Published April 17th 2023
This week in Last Week in Weed, We will be looking at Germany revealing its revised cannabis plans, Tilray announcing its intention to purchase a rival, and finally, the Taiwan government voicing strong opposition to ‘legalising cannabis’ in the country.
Germany Reveals Revised Cannabis Plans
The first story we’ll be looking at this week comes from Europe’s largest economy. As we discussed in Last Week In Weed Issue 53 Germany has been forced to rethink and revise its proposed plans to ‘legalise’ cannabis after pushback from the European Union (EU).
Last week the Federal Republic announced its reworked proposals designed to make them more palatable for the EU. It announced that it would not be nationally ‘legalising’ cannabis as the so-called traffic light coalition had promised after forming a government following the country’s most recent general election.
The German Health Minister, Professor Karl Lauterbach, announced the country’s watered-down ‘decriminalisation’ cannabis plans at a press conference on 12th April. During the press conference, he said that "The previous cannabis policy has failed. Now we have to go new ways.” The ‘new ways’ the Minister speaks of are the EU-approved prioritising of quality control, contamination prevention, youth prohibition, health protection, and the curbing of currently unlicensed and criminalised sales of cannabis in Germany.
The revised plan known as the ‘Club, Cultivation & Regional’ (CARe) model is a multiyear two-phase parallel cannabis trial. The revisions have ultimately been made to ensure that Germany operates any cannabis legislation within the narrow confines of current EU regulations and rules.
The trial will include limited adult-use possession, non-profit clubs and for-profit retail stores, and home-grown access. Under the revised plans adult cannabis-related possession offences up to 25 grams would be ‘decriminalised’ along with the cultivation of up to 3 cannabis plants at home. It isn’t currently unclear if the restrictions are applied to the individual or the household. So whether 2 adults could lawfully cultivate 6 plants in one house for example.
German cannabis consumers will still be criminalised for the public consumption of cannabis in ‘pedestrian zones’ and ‘near schools.’ A positive but rather limited aspect of the plans is the proposal to expungement of previous cannabis-related possession prosecutions of up to 25 grams.
The main change in the country's plans is the prioritising of domestic non-profit ‘cannabis clubs’ over just ubiquitously ‘legalising’ cannabis sales from for-profit retail outlets. The proposed German cannabis clubs would be required to be strictly for those over 18s and limit the supply of cannabis to those under 21s to just 30 grams a month.
The cannabis clubs will also have to operate as a non-profit, abstain from advertisement, and be limited to a maximum membership of 500. Citizens will also only be allowed to become a member of one club at a time and will be prohibited from supplying cannabis to others procured from the associations.
The clubs will only be permitted to allow consumption on-site at the clubs after 8 pm. It will also be responsible for supplying cannabis to its members, although it is not currently clear if its members will be allowed to supply the clubs with their home-grown cannabis. After four years the data acquired from observing the clubs will be utilised ‘with the aim of examining any adjustments with regard to health and youth protection as well as reducing the black market’.
A limited for-profit adult-use retail access trial will run parallel to the implementation of the non-profit cannabis club in various but currently unnamed regions of Germany. The trial is due to run for 5 years and allows German adults to purchase limited amounts of cannabis from a small number of licensed retail stores. Again, the data and observations will be used to inform future regulations aimed at ‘tackling the black market’ and ‘protecting the youth’ in alignment with the demands made by the EU.
Alongside similar trials in Switzerland, the data and observations of these trials will likely be used to create an EU-compliant, centralised, and multinational-controlled adult-use cannabis industry in Europe. The German Health, Justice, and Agricultural Ministers who are responsible for drafting the legislation have not yet provided a definitive timescale for its implementation. However, German politicians and media are still claiming that the new legislation will come into effect later in 2023.
During last week's press conference, the country’s Health Minister Professor Lauterbach made some rather unscientific, ignorant, and frankly hyperbole claims about cannabis, cannabis culture, and its effects on the consumer.
“Cannabis is a common stimulant. It is often offered and used illegally in Germany. This is often a health hazard. Adolescents in particular are impaired in their social and cognitive development by cannabis. Despite this, more and more young people are using the drug. The black market goods are often contaminated and create additional health hazards. We can no longer accept this.
“That’s why we dare the controlled sale of cannabis to adults within clear limits and push back the black market, flanked by preventive measures for young people. Health protection is the priority. The previous cannabis policy has failed. Now we have to break new ground.”
So while I agree that we should be celebrating the creation of cannabis clubs in Germany. I cannot help but feel the financially restrictive disparity between the legacy culture-operated non-profits and the multinational commercial for-profit businesses is indicative of the German government's true neo-liberal and capitalist intentions for cannabis.
Despite the recent news and progress the country has made the cessation of cannabis prohibition doesn’t have ubiquitous support in the German parliament. As Conservative opposition politicians have previously stated that ‘any form of drug liberalisation is dangerous.’ Its position is summed up in this recent tweet from the Bavarian minister-premier Markus Söder saying that ‘legalising’ drugs was "simply the wrong path to go down" and that setting up "drug clubs" did not solve any problems but created new ones.’
We will endeavour to keep you informed as more details are made available.
Tilray Announces Intention to Purchase Domestic Rival
One of Canada’s biggest licensed cannabis producers, Tilray Brands Inc, announced last week that it intends to purchase through a merger fellow Canadian cannabis company Hexo Corp in an All-share deal.
The proposed deal is valued at $56 million and would see Tilray issue shares at 0.4352 for each Hexo share. As the purchase would be conducted as a merger the deal has to be approved by both sets of shareholders and the relevant court/financial authority.
Tilray has stated that the deal is designed to widen s product range and to deliver at least $25 million in annual cost savings. Speaking on a call with investors last week Tilray chief executive Irwin Simon said that "Together we have the assets and the operating expertise to build a stronger Canadian platform that takes advantage of clear opportunities to deliver stronger topline growth and increase our market share."
In July 2022, the two brands finalised an ‘alliance’ that provided a vital lifeline to Hexo when Tilray acquire $193 million in ‘secure convertible notes’ issued by Hexo to HT Investments MA LLC. This deal solidified the company's ‘strategic partnership’ and laid the foundations for this inevitable merger/acquisition to take place.
The deal comes shortly after Tilray reported year-on-year revenue losses of 21% domestically and 24% internationally. This isn’t the first time Tilray has cannibalised one of its domestic rivals either. Back in 2020, it announced that it would be merging Aphria after a deal with its first choice Aurora fell through. The deal was later completed in May 2021 with shares being exchanged at 0.8381.
It was also announced last week that Tilray would be increasing its stranglehold on Europe by signing a new ‘strategic partnership’ deal with the German Cansativa Group to distribute ‘medicinal cannabis’ in Czechia (formerly the Czech Republic).
“We are extremely proud to broaden our distribution across the Czech Republic and offer our EU-GMP-certified medicinal cannabis products to help support medical cannabis patients in need. Our Tilray Medical team remains dedicated to patient advocacy across our international markets by providing quality medicinal cannabis for commercial, compassionate access, and research purposes.” - Denise Faltischek, Tilray Brands, Inc
Tilray products are already being sold in over 22+ countries around the world. These include many European countries like Italy, Spain, UK, Portugal, Poland, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Malta, and Germany. Where Tilray is the biggest single player - which does kinda make you wonder how this directly affects our first story, doesn’t it?
So while companies like this cannibalise their competitors and countries continue to conspire to deny their citizens their basic human rights. The global ‘Cannabis Pharmaceutical Market’ is now expected to surpass $125 billion by 2028
Taiwan government voices strong opposition to ‘legalising cannabis’
The final story we’ll be looking at this week comes from the Republic of China, Taiwan. The exiled Chinese government nation-state responded to public protests over the weekend by reaffirming its strong opposition to ‘legalising’ cannabis in the country.
Last weekend, ‘Wave Green’ a domestic pro-cannabis group pushing for the ‘decriminalisation’ of the plant in the island nation held a large demonstration outside the country’s presidential office in the nation's capital Taipei City.
The group erected a large stage and pop-up market on Ketagalan Boulevard at 1 pm. The amassed crowds enjoyed live music and speeches calling for the government’s Ministry of Justice to “Stop the war on Cannabis”. The grass-roots group then led a march at 420pm to the ‘Yuan Legislative’ the country's legislator.
From the limited accounts available online the protest passed without incident or anyone being arrested or detained. The local police even coordinated the closure of roads around the protest to ensure public safety.
In response, the Taiwanese MOJ stated that the ‘criminalising of marijuana is aimed at keeping people healthy and making society safe and stable’ and that ‘the country’s policy was in line with global trends.’ The MOJ also incorrectly cited the 2021 UN World Drug Report to claim that ‘long-term and regular use of cannabis harms people’s health’.
The ministry further went on to state that ‘an expert panel of Taiwanese neurologists, pharmacologists and toxicologists who met to review the harm posed by the use of cannabis has concluded that the drug will make users addictive and damage their central nervous system.’
The statement ended with the MOJ urging citizens not to violate the country’s cannabis laws as the police and prosecutors are currently cracking down on cannabis-related offences to prevent the harm caused by the spread of the drug.
Under the country's Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act Cannabis is currently scheduled as a category 2 narcotic in Taiwan along with amphetamine, coca leaves, and opium poppies.
Cannabis-related possession is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 3 years. Possession with intent can illicit a maximum prison term of 5 years and a fine of NT$5 million or US$160,000. The cultivation, trafficking, and supply of cannabis are punishable by a minimum sentence of 10 years to a maximum sentence of life in prison with a maximum fine of NT$15 million or US$490,000+.
This brave demonstration in a region of the world that so heavily criminalises cannabis culture comes just a month after ‘the country’s largest ever cannabis bust’ in February and at the same time the country announced a plethora of recent ‘successful’ raids.
There was a story in the Taipei Times just last month highlighting a recent case that may result in the defendants spending the rest of their lives in cages for simply cultivating cannabis.
It is a shame that the exiled ROC government cannot see the fiscal, physical, and political potential of cannabis to revolutionise many industries on the island. While its South China Sea neighbour Thailand continues to dominate cannabis reform in the region.
Until another Asian nation bravely casts off the colonial shackles of prohibition the ‘land of smiles’ will remain the de-facto biggest player in the region after it recently ‘decriminalised’ cannabis, albeit in a rather chaotic matter.
Written By Simpa For The Simpa Life
Last Week In Weed Extra Story
UK Home Office has approved another high-THC cannabis cultivation license for Burton-based firm Dalgety. The license grants the company lawful exemption to cultivate, process, and package cannabis for sale via the for-profit private cannabis clinics n the UK's ‘Medicinal Cannabis' sector
Interestingly one of the company’s advisors is non-other than former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. That’s right that Jacqui Smith. The one responsible for reclassifying cannabis to a schedule one class B drug in 2009. Honestly, You couldn’t make this shite up.
