EPISODE #142 Cannabis Legalisation in Germany with Alfredo Pascual, Franziska Katterbach & Tom Blickman - Show Notes

Last month, the recently elected coalition government in Germany announced their initial plans to legalise cannabis for recreational use.

There has understandably been a lot of excitement about this news, so on this week’s episode Alfredo Pascual from Seed Innovations, Franziska Katterbach from Khiron Life Sciences, and Tom Blickman from Transnational Institute join me to discuss how the upcoming legislation may disrupt and revolutionise the recreational and medical markets within Germany and Europe on a wider scale.

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About Our Guests

Alfredo Pascual - VP of Investment Analysis, Seed Innovations?

Based in Germany, Alfredo is a prominent cannabis industry analyst who has been identifying opportunities and generating unique insights for businesses and investors in Europe and Latin America since 2016. He is currently VP of Investment Analysis of Seed Innovations Ltd (LON: SEED), the AIM quoted company investing in fast growing and industry leading businesses with a focus on the medical cannabis, health and wellness space. Before joining Seed Innovations, Alfredo worked as International Analyst at Marijuana Business Daily (MJBiz), the US-based business news and information resource, where he focused on covering how cannabis markets and investments were evolving internationally. Alfredo has an academic background in business and public policy.

Connect with Alfredo on LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/alfrep

Tom Blickman - Senior Project Officer, Transnational Institute

Tom Blickman (1957) is a Senior Project Officer at the Transnational Institute (TNI), based in Amsterdam. Since 1997, he has been working for TNI's Drugs Programme, specializing in international drug control policy and the UN conventions, drug markets, alternative development, money laundering and organised crime. More recently he is closely following cannabis regulation policies in Europe and elsewhere. Tom is a regular speaker at international policy conferences and advises on developments in the drugs field. He is co-editor of the TNI Drug Policy Briefing series.

Connect with Tom on LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/tom-blickman-2941a046/

Franziska Katterbach - President, Khiron Life Sciences

Franziska Katterbach is an accomplished business executive and legal expert (zugelassene Rechtsanw?ltin) who brings extensive experience working within Europe's emerging cannabis industry. After completing her legal studies at Universit?t Leipzig and Landgericht Darmstadt, Franziska joined the corporate law firm Dentons, where she was involved in high-profile deals in the cannabis sector across multiple jurisdictions. Franziska later served as Director of Legal for Canopy's European operations, before joining Khiron. With 8+ years of regulatory expertise and 4+ as business executive in the European emerging cannabis industry, Franziska has well rounded knowledge in the industry. Franziska is considered a pioneer of the medical cannabis market in Germany, working in the medical cannabis industry in Europe on executive level since the very beginning in 2016.

Connect with Franziska on LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/franziska-katterbach-438878a9

Episode Summary

• Germany’s new coalition government has shown a political willingness to legalise cannabis for recreational use, a strong signal that Europe’s recreational cannabis market is gaining traction.
• The new coalition government marks the first time the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) have worked together.
• Under current German law, it’s not illegal to consume cannabis but it is to buy it.
• The new government is looking to introduce the regulated sale of cannabis to adults for consumption purposes in licensed stores - it is not yet clear if it will be legal to cultivate.
• The pilot project will be evaluated after four years.
• The project draws parallels with the country of Luxembourg, who have recently legalised household cultivation.
• Currently, the government has stated its intentions, and no law has officially passed. In the upcoming months, the law will be drafted internally before passing through parliament.
• In 1961, Germany signed The Single UN Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 - an international treaty that prohibits the production and supply of specific narcotic drugs and licenses other drugs with similar effects for medical treatment and research.
• The UN agreement somewhat contradicts the upcoming intentions of the government, alongside the EU Drugs Framework of 2004.
• It is possible to make a modification or a reservation to the UN Conventions, if like-minded countries group together to form an alliance, countries would not have to withdraw from the conventions to do this.
• There are many ways in which the market could be controlled, through the state such as in Uruguay, or in a more commercial way like in the USA or Canada.
• Although it is hard to predict, it is unlikely that legislation will be published in a hurry, especially due to the ongoing threat of the pandemic.
• Negotiations and formalities could take years, and during that time the political landscape may change, further complicating the situation.
• Regardless of how long things may take, the announcement has resurfaced cannabis as a topic of public conversation which is a good step.
• UK citizens and companies are not currently allowed to invest within the recreational market due to the Proceeds of Crime Act.
• The legalisation of recreational cannabis in Germany could make some minor but meaningful reforms within the medical cannabis program which would improve access for patients and destigmatise its use further.
• In the context of wider European drug policy, Germany’s actions will have a huge influence on the rest of the continent.

Resources

Seed Innovations Website: https://seedinnovations.co/

Khiron Life Sciences Website: https://khiron.ca/en/

Transnational Institute Website: https://www.tni.org/en

Regulating Drugs: Resolving Conflicts with the UN Drug Control Treaty System: https://jied.lse.ac.uk/articles/10.31389/jied.23/

About Me

I'm?Anuj Desai - a commercial advisor, lawyer and founder of Canverse - a strategic consultancy helping founders, entrepreneurs and businesses navigate the emerging cannabis industry.

Please follow?The Cannabis Conversation to keep up to date with news and insights from the industry, and get in touch at [email protected] to discuss how I can help your business move forward in the cannabis sector!

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