ATHENS: Legislators in Greece have approved a bill to regulate medical cannabis cultivation and distribution.On March 1, lawmakers voted in favour of the bill, which will allow licensed businesses to cultivate and process cannabis for medical purposes. Land for cultivation must be at least 4,000 square metres in size and secured by fencing. The legislation also stipulates that the processing of the cannabis must take place within the same grounds that it is grown, to avoid extra transportation of the drug, Once regulations are in place, people prescribed medical cannabis will be able to buy the drug from licensed pharmacies.
Indeed, alongside providing medicine to patients, the new regulations are opening Greece up to an international multibillion-dollar industry – and cannabis companies are already setting their sights on the country’s potential. Canadian cannabis firm Aphria intends to invest in cannabis production in the northeast area of Xanthi later this year, regional sources report, which could create as many as 500 jobs in the local economy.
The planned involvement of foreign companies has provoked controversy among some policymakers in Greece. The Communist Party, which opposed the legislation in the vote, denounced the government for allowing “murderous multinationals” to enter the Greek cannabis business.
