On 25 September, PTMC hosted its seventh version in central Lisbon, amid a rising sense that Portugal’s medical hashish sector has reached an inflection level.
Delegates have been eager to alternate views on whether or not, and the way, Portugal can preserve and strengthen its place as Europe’s main producer and exporter, in opposition to the backdrop of home developments and wider shifts within the European hashish trade.
Opening Session – Infarmed (Portugal’s Hashish Regulator)
Dr Vasco Bettencourt – Director, Infarmed Licensing Unit
- The message was a constructive one, emphasising the resilience of the sector and the necessity for transparency.
- Within the wake of the ‘Erva Daninha’ operation by Portuguese authorities, which uncovered a legal organisation lively inside the nation’s hashish trade, Dr Bettencourt assured delegates that this was an remoted case, not consultant of the sector.
- Shifting ahead, the main target for Infarmed is ready to be on addressing delays in licensing, whereas implementing new qualification methods, new monitoring methods for regulatory oversight, and implementing the UN’s software program for registering and monitoring import and export shipments.
Pharmaceutical Science and Innovation in Hashish Merchandise and Medicines
(Moderator) Sarah Sinclair – Hashish Well being, Fátima Godinho Carvalho – LEF, Danny Andrea – Curaleaf, Amit Edri – Portocanna, Helena Correia – Hashish Marketing consultant
Key Takeaways:
- Probably the most vital space of innovation in medical hashish is within the processes of its manufacturing. Reliability, stability, and reproducibility of the manufacturing course of are key.
- The panel additionally touched on the constraints which the regulatory surroundings imposes – all innovation has to stay compliant with a patchwork of regulatory methods in Europe, in addition to the issue of working inside EUGMP with plant materials like hashish flower.
- Additionally talked about was that conventional RCTs don’t totally swimsuit hashish, as a consequence of product variation, and psychoactive results rendering placebo controls troublesome. Actual-world trials are more and more getting used even in customary medication, and they are going to be key for creating proof for medical hashish.
Constructing a Profitable Hashish Firm: The right way to Entice Funding and Obtain ROI?
(Moderator) Laura Ramos – CannaReporter, Franziska Katterbach – Oppenhoff, Michael Sassano – Somaí Prescription drugs, Joana Silveira Botelho – Cuatrecasas, António Vieira – AceCann
Key Takeaways:
- Founders ought to begin with an genuine thought and establish a transparent, uninhabited area of interest.
- It shouldn’t simply be a case of chasing the hype; in any other case the enterprise will not be sustainable.
- The previous race to be first and largest is over, firms now want clear worth propositions and life like enterprise plans.
- Success requires persistence with prolonged timelines and upfront funding in robust authorized/compliance buildings, contracts, audits, and due diligence. It will save money and time in the long term.
- A standard pitfall is underestimating (or understating to traders) how lengthy it takes to go from licensing to gross sales. Markets are unstable, and roadmaps from previous successes don’t at all times apply.
- The trade ought to come collectively to drive change, however it’s not at all times mandatory to alter the legislation. The regulator is usually in a position to make adjustments inside the current authorized framework with out having to undergo parliament.
Cultivating, Processing, Distributing in Europe
(Moderator) Margarita Cardoso de Meneses – CannaReporter, Xavier Gaya – Cultivation Marketing consultant, Rui Soares – Paralab, Inês Campos Lima – BioLeaf Well being, Louis Golaz – RED Horticulture
Key Takeaways:
- Too typically the main target is simply on yield, however assessing efficiency must be extra refined, e.g. measuring yield per kilowatt hour.
- Opposite to what’s typically mentioned by firms organising cultivation in Portugal, it isn’t the perfect local weather for cultivation. The excessive warmth ranges make greenhouse rising troublesome, as a big power expenditure is required to maintain temperatures down in summer time. Excessive humidity additionally poses numerous issues.
- HVAC and drying rooms are main ache factors. Poor methods result in contamination dangers, expensive cleansing, and probably necessitate irradiation, resulting in shopper rejection in Germany.
- Scaling manufacturing requires discovering the correct mix of automation and guide work throughout cultivation and post-harvest; some components of the method really require a guide contact, others could be automated.
- Stability of genetics underpins constant SOPs and finish merchandise. Rising options embody F1 seeds and triploid crops, shifting away from legacy practices. Begins with genetics, then cautious environmental optimisation.
Hashish provide chain around the globe: Traits of Worldwide Markets
(Moderator) Arnau Valdovinos – Cannamonitor, Alfredo Pascual – Analyst, Natalia Lopez – Former Chief Cultivator, Thai Stick, Rob Smallman – International Hashish Trade, Sita Schubert – European Medicinal Hashish Affiliation (EUMCA)
Key Takeaways:
- Thai hashish is already reaching Australia and will enter Germany as early as the tip of the 12 months, although regulatory delays stay seemingly.
- Offers are sometimes slowed or blocked by inconsistent labelling, packaging, and cannabinoid content material.
- Corporations have unrealistic expectations for market entry timelines – first exports from Canada to Europe usually take 3–5 months.
- Capital has chased vainness metrics (capability, licences, international locations) reasonably than aggressive edge, leaving many operators with out sustainable enterprise fashions.
- There are misconceptions round product high quality – THC efficiency and recency of harvest are sometimes used as proxies for high quality. Whereas freshness is necessary, flower dated 3 months from harvest can nonetheless be of top of the range.
- Upcoming German regulatory reforms (debated Oct 8) may deliver tighter restrictions and additional worth compression.
- Nationwide registration processes and European monographs for flower and extracts are rising, however harmonisation stays sluggish. Present contaminant limits are borrowed from different pharmacopoeia requirements reasonably than being primarily based on cannabis-specific information.
100 Years of World’s Prohibition, 25 of Decriminalization in Portugal: Future Paths
(Moderator) Laura Ramos – CannaReporter, Carl L. Hart – Columbia College, NYC, Alfredo Pascual – Analyst, Bárbara do Amaral Correia – PSD, Jorge Miguel Teixeira – Iniciativa Liberal, Cláudia Estêvão – Chega
Key Takeaways:
- Like Uruguay in 2013, Portugal has pioneered regulatory change in hashish regulation, however not continued to develop.
- Portugal is now forward of different international locations in constructing an trade, but it dangers stagnating by way of a scarcity of additional constructive engagement from the federal government.
- Leisure hashish regulation is on the agenda of dialogue and debate inside the ruling coalition in Portugal; nevertheless, the route of policymaking and laws remains to be creating
- The controversy round hashish and the route of policymaking is simply too typically indifferent from scientific analysis. There are additionally vital points with scientific information and research being performed or interpreted with particular political outcomes in thoughts.
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