Cannabis producer Demecan expands production

Germany's largest producer of medicinal cannabis, the company Demecan, has expanded its production in Ebersbach, Saxony (district of Meißen). Founded in 2017, the company has doubled its cultivation capacity to around 4,000 kilograms per year. A total of over 23 million euros has now been invested in the site, 18.6 million euros of which went into the original expansion of the former abattoir site and a further five million euros into the current expansion, co-founder Constantin von der Groeben told the German Press Agency. The number of employees has grown from around 70 to 80 to around 120 in the meantime.

Company criticizes uncertain framework conditions

The previous cultivation area in the 32,000 square metre building complex has been doubled on a one-to-one basis. Around 5,000 cannabis plants are currently growing in the facility, which are cultivated in hermetically sealed rooms in a nine-week cycle. Another new addition is an extraction plant for a specially developed fresh extract with a particularly high active ingredient content and degree of purity, as well as an in-house laboratory for quality control and determination of active ingredients on site. According to the company, it is the most modern indoor plantation for medicinal cannabis in Europe. However, the company still imports more cannabis than it grows itself. However, the capacities in Ebersbach could be multiplied further.

Demecan is on course for growth, and last year was the best in the company's history, according to von der Groeben. "We are fully competitive here with the cannabis we produce." However, this only applies if the market conditions remain as they are. The current draft bill to tighten the Cannabis Act is therefore causing uncertainty.

Draft law aims to restrict mail-order sales by pharmacies

Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken (CDU) wants to restrict mail-order sales of medicinal cannabis, among other things. In future, prescriptions for the drug should only be possible after a personal consultation with a doctor instead of online, for example by filling out a questionnaire. The background to this is an increase in prescriptions for medicinal cannabis. Demecan founder von der Groeben criticizes that the debate is being conducted politically and emotionally, not objectively and not "driven by data and facts". The bill was also passed before a corresponding evaluation report on the effects to date of the Cannabis Act passed by the then coalition government of the SPD, Greens and FDP had been completed. This had shown that the overall social consumption of the drug had not increased.

A tightening of the regulations could drive consumers back into the black market, said von der Groeben. The company also fears a loss of business. The company is proud of what it has achieved. Now, however, there is a lack of planning security and there is a risk that "the baby will be thrown out with the bathwater". Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer has announced that he will be visiting Demecan on Thursday.